Popular cable network Showtime has started working to expand its longest-running show, Billions, into a fully-fledged franchise with a move that is reminiscent of what Paramount+ did with Yellowstone, according to Chris McCarthy, the new Showtime boss.
McCarthy, who made the revelation during a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, also stated that the cable network has as many as four spin-offs in the pipeline titled Millions, Trillions, Billions: Miami, and Billions: London.
While Millions will follow young and emerging finance experts who are looking to make it big in the finance world, Trillions will explore the highly exclusive world of the richest people on earth. On the other hand, Billions: Miami will focus on players in the world’s crypto capital, Miami, while Billions: London will chronicle the lives of the movers and shakers of the U. K. financial industry.
Billions follows the unending rivalry between United States Attorney Charles Chuck Rhoades, Jr. and popular philanthropist and billionaire hedge fund manager Bobby Axe Axelrod. It explores their efforts to destroy each other’s professional careers using all the tools at their disposal.
However, Rhoades eventually got the better of Axelrod in the fifth season, which forced the billionaire to leave the United States and sell off his company, Axe Capital, to avoid prison. Mike Prince then took over the company and resumed the feud with Rhoades.
Paul Giamatti, Damian Lewis, and Corey Stoll portray Rhoades, Axelrod, and Prince respectively. Apart from these three, the show also stars Maggie Siff, David Costabile, Asia Kate Dillon, Jeffery DeMunn, Kelly AuCoin, Dan Soder, Terry Kinney, and Glenn Fleshler.
The drama television show debuted on Showtime on January 17, 2016. The show has since run for six seasons and currently has another one on the way. It was created by Brian Koppelman, Andrew Ross Sorkin, and David Levien. Koppelmein, Levien, and Sorkin also serve as some of the show’s executive producers alongside Christian Soriano and Neil Burger.
By the way, Koppelmein and Levien will also executive-produce all four spinoff series according to a statement they released a few days ago. In their joint statement, they had the following to say: “We remain fascinated by people whose ambition is boundless and who think the laws of civilization and nature don’t apply to them. Miami is a vital and vibrant place the super-rich have begun taking over. We’re excited to show everyone what’s really going on down there.”
It is worth mentioning that Billions is not the only television series that Showtime is expanding into a franchise. The television network is reportedly doing the same with Dexter despite the fact that Dexter’s last episode aired on September 22, 2013.
The Billions’ spin-offs are in their very early stages which means they will take some time, possibly a few years, to hit the little screen. In the meantime, Billions season 7 is scheduled to premiere later this year.
