Paramount+ announced today that it has given a 10-episode series order for an untitled “NCIS” spinoff centered on the beloved characters Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David, with Cote de Pablo and Michael Weatherly (“Loving”) reprising the iconic roles.
Slated to begin production later this year, the all-new series reunites de Pablo and Weatherly on screen for the first time in 10 years. The two also will serve as executive producers alongside John McNamara (“Trumbo,” “The Magicians”), who wrote the premiere episode and will serve as showrunner. Laurie Lieser, Christina Strain and Shelley Meals will also executive produce.
Following Ziva’s supposed death, Tony left the NCIS team to raise their daughter. Years later, Ziva was discovered alive, leading her to complete one final mission with NCIS before she was reunited with Tony and their daughter in Paris. Since then – and where we find them in the new Paramount+ original series – Tony and Ziva have been raising their daughter, Tali, together. When Tony’s security company is attacked, they must go on the run across Europe, try to figure out who is after them and maybe even learn to trust each other again so that they can finally have their unconventional happily ever after.
Cote de Pablo and Michael Weatherly Return
“We’ve been talking about this story for many years, and now with John McNamara at the helm, we are ready,” said Weatherly and de Pablo in a joint statement. “The world of Tony and Ziva (and daughter Tali) promises to be an action-packed roller coaster fueled by love, danger, tears and laughter. We also want to acknowledge and thank the fans from around the world who supported the ‘TIVA’ movement for years. To this day, they say hello in grocery stores and on the street to tell us how much these characters mean to them and ask what Tony and Ziva are up to now. This is for you!”
“I’m incredibly excited to step into the NCIS universe with Cote and Michael and thrilled to explore it from a few new angles,” said showrunner and executive producer John McNamara. “Given that the franchise is such a global sensation, I think it’s phenomenal that CBS Studios and Paramount+ have given us the greenlight to shoot in Europe. As to the title of this series, if I told you what it is, I’d be violating the Espionage Act.”
Monty Brinton/CBS
In a recent episode of “NCIS,” Weatherly reprised his role as Tony DiNozzo to help celebrate the life of the late actor David McCallum, who portrayed Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard on the series for 20 seasons. McCallum died of natural causes in September 2023, just days after turning 90 years old.
The “NCIS” brand remains the world’s most successful television franchise. In fact, during the 2022-2023 TV season, it’s estimated that the franchise had more than 300 million worldwide viewers across all platforms, including broadcast, cable, streaming and syndication (according to Nielsen and internal data). Since the launch of Paramount+, the “NCIS” Franchise has ranked consistently among the top five franchises on the service in terms of hours consumed. In spring 2024, the “NCIS” franchise will collectively celebrate 1,000 episodes.
The Tony and Ziva-led untitled spinoff is produced by CBS Studios and executive produced by John McNamara, Michael Weatherly, Cote de Pablo, Laurie Lieser, Christina Strain and Shelley Meals. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.