Posted in: CBS, TV | Tagged: cia, fbi

CIA: Tom Ellis Offers Production Update, Insights Into "FBI" Spinoff

CIA's Tom Ellis (Lucifer) updated on how production was going and how the "FBI" universe series would "lean a lot more into character stuff."

When we checked in on how things were looking with CBS's Tom Ellis (Lucifer)-starring CIA last month, the news had come down that the "FBI" universe series had moved from the fall to a midseason premiere and that Warren Leight (Law & Order: SVU) was now the new showrunner. Now, while promoting his Netflix film The Thursday Murder Club, 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 is set to get underway next 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.

"No, 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."

The series is set to spotlight 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 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.

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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