Sounds like ‘Ray Donovan’ Spinoffs are in the works on Showtime

It looks like the Liev Schreiber crime drama is getting the “Billions” and “Dexter” treatment.

After “Ray Donovan: The Movie,” it looks like we’re getting “Ray Donovan,” the spinoffs. The Showtime series, which ran from 2013 to 2020 with a movie in 2022, could be resurrected on the premium cable network and Paramount+, according to comments from Paramount Global President Bob Bakish.

In other words, Bakish wants to give Liev Schreiber crime fiction the treatment of “Billions” and “Dexter.”

Bakish, while discussing Paramount’s future plans for Showtime at the 2023 Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecommunications Conference on Wednesday, said the channel/brand will focus on providing audience members with a smaller tab that provides what they want. “Maybe” it’s more “Ray Donovan,” he said.

“You might think that shale is smaller, which will be cheaper, but it really gives people what they want,” Bakish said. “Which is more Showtime, maybe more ‘Dexter,’ maybe more ‘Ray Donovan,’ and really leans toward that. And we have some exciting plans.”

In addition to “Ray Donovan” and Showtime, Bakish also teased “Tulsa King,” the Sylvester Stallone Paramount+ drama series from “Yellowstone” creator Taylor Sheridan. The “Yellowstone” universe, which includes “1883,” “1923” and others, has become the template that Paramount wants to replicate across all platforms, especially Showtime.

“Look at what we’re doing with ‘Tulsa King,'” Bakish said. “Hm, maybe there are more kings…”

On the movie side, Bakish unsurprisingly pointed to strong franchises like “Transformers” and “Scream” as tentpoles that are getting new installments. It also dropped last year’s horror film ‘Smile’ at the box office because it was ripe for expansion.

“You’ll see them all,” Bakish said. “It’s going to be cool.”

As for “Billions” and “Dexter,” it looks like it will be more than it can consume. “Billions”, which is still on the air and will soon present its seventh season, is about to expand with four spinoffs. One is set in Miami, one is in London, one (working) is called “Millions” and the other is called “Trillions”.

For “Dexter,” Showtime wants an original series for the title character, as well as spinoffs to explore the backstory of other characters, including the Trinity Killer. The sequel to “Dexter,” “Dexter: New Blood,” was a hit for Showtime last year. Let’s do it again.

In September, Showtime’s linear channel will be rebranded as “Paramount+ with Showtime.” The top-of-the-line Paramount+ package, which includes Showtime programming and is ad-free, also gets the new moniker (and a $2 per month price increase). Showtime’s own OTT (over-the-top) service will then be shut down.

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