Posted in: CBS, TV | Tagged: cia

CIA: CBS's Tom Ellis-Starrer Debuts Feb. 23rd; New Image Released

Here's a new look at CBS's Tom Ellis (Lucifer) and Nick Gehlfuss (Chicago Med)-starring CIA, set to premiere on Monday, Feb. 23rd.

After spending our last few updates reporting on who's been departing the series, we have some good news to pass along regarding CBS's Tom Ellis (Lucifer)-starring CIA. Earlier today, the network released its 2025-2026 midseason schedule, with the series on tap to premiere on Monday, February 23rd, at 10 pm. With the news came a look at new key art for the series, which spotlights Ellis and co-star Nick Gehlfuss (Chicago Med), available below. The news comes as news dropped over the past several weeks that series star Michael Michele (The Equalizer), EP Eriq La Salle, and showrunner Warren Leight (Law & Order: SVU) had departed the series (with FBI's Mike Weiss being eyed as showrunner).

Starring Ellis, Gehlfuss, and Natalee Linez (Chicago P.D.), CBS's CIA spotlights two unlikely partners – a fast-talking, rule-breaking loose cannon CIA case officer, Hart Hoxton (Ellis), and a by-the-book, seasoned and smart FBI agent (Gehlfuss) who believes in the rule of law. When this odd couple is 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. Along the way, they find that their differences may actually be their strength. Linez stars as Gina Rojas, a trusted CIA analyst on the team.

CIA: Tom Ellis Offers Early Thoughts on CBS Series

While promoting his Netflix film The Thursday Murder Club at the end of August, Ellis was able to offer an update on how production was going and some insights into the series. "We haven't started yet," Ellis shared with Collider, adding that filming was set to get underway the following month. "We start shooting in September because we're going to be a midseason." In the following highlights, Ellis offers a more detailed production update, high praise for Dick Wolf Productions, and explains how the series will be something different from what viewers may expect from a Dick Wolf series.

"We haven't done a pilot, which is a really strange experience for me. That normally is your time for finding your character, finding out what the show is, experimenting with tone, and all those different things. We haven't got there yet. But the script is in a really great place. They're still casting at the moment. We're trying to find the person I'm going to play opposite, essentially," Ellis shared. "What I would say is that I've had a great time with the people from Dick Wolf Productions. They've been incredibly enthusiastic and supportive about what we're doing. I think there is a shared feeling that we would like to really make our mark as a show. I think initially we were going to be a spin out series from 'FBI.' The more it's gone on, I think we're actually gaining our own identity."

"There will be some differences in this show to a lot of the other Wolf shows," Ellis continued. "We're trying to lean a lot more into character stuff. The central relationship between my character and the FBI character is going to be very much a driving force for the show. Even though we're going to be a case of the week type of procedural, we're going to spend a bit more time with our main characters than they traditionally do on a lot of these Wolf shows. I'm really looking forward to starting. I don't know physically how different it will be. I'll get to do a lot of running and jumping. The key to it, like anything, is finding the tone. What's the sweet spot of this show? It will be a different procedural to Lucifer, that's for sure. The character of Lucifer was able to satirize this genre. This will be a lot more grounded, in that sense. I'm really excited about starting. I think it's going to be really interesting."

Stemming from Universal Television (a division of Universal Studio Group), Wolf Entertainment, and CBS Studios, CBS's CIA is executive produced by Dick Wolf, Showrunner David Hudgins, Nicole Perlman & David Chasteen, and Peter Jankowski. Eriq La Salle is set as director and as an executive producer of the first episode.

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