‘FBI’ Spin-Off ‘CIA’ Ordered Straight To Series By CBS With Tom Ellis As Lead

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CBS has handed a straight-to-series order to ‘CIA‘, a new spin-off set in the ‘FBI’ franchise, with ‘Lucifer’s Tom Ellis set to lead the cast.

The new drama will centre on two unlikely partners – a fast-talking, rule-breaking loose cannon CIA case officer (which, not unsurprisingly, is Ellis’ role!), and a by-the-book, seasoned and smart FBI agent who believes in the rule of law. When this odd couple are assigned to work out of the CIA’s New York Station, they must learn to work together to investigate cases and criminals posing threats on U.S. soil, finding that their differences may actually be their strength.

The show has undergone an interesting journey to screen. It was originally planned as a “planted pilot” (i.e. an episode of ‘FBI’ would have featured these characters and been used as a pilot for the spin-off.) However, the producers struggled to nail down the casting in time for that to happen, and ‘FBI’ completed filming its run. News then landed that the ‘CIA’ spin-off was still a possibility, but would get a straight-to-series order if CBS wanted it. Which they do, and here we are!

The new show is written by ‘One Chicago’, ‘Law & Order, ‘FBI’ and network procedural overlord, Dick Wolf, alongside ‘FBI: Most Wanted’ showrunner David Hudgins, Nicole Perlman and former CIA officer David Chasteen. ‘CIA’ is technically a working title for the show, but is still a vast improvement on the original suggested name, ‘FBI: CIA’, which made no sense at all.

This pick up will, hopefully, help soothe some of the sting from the fact that CBS opted to cancel both ‘FBI: Most Wanted’ & ‘FBI: International’ back in March, leaving the main ‘FBI’ standing alone. It also never hurts to have more Tom Ellis on screen!

‘CIA‘ Season 1 does not have a premiere date, but will likely land either in Fall 2025 or early 2026 on CBS in the USA. Officially no idea where it’ll land in the UK, although we’d be very surprised if it doesn’t go to Sky Witness! 

We don’t yet have UK premiere dates for ‘FBI‘ Season 7, ‘FBI: Most Wanted’ Season 6 or ‘FBI: International’ Season 4, although all signs currently point to Sky Witness having booted them back to their Autumn 2025 timeslot… 

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