A 9/11 first responders drama starring Jeremy Strong may still become the first commission for Paramount+‘s new regime led by Cindy Holland.
Tentatively titled 9/12, the series, originally from Skydance Television, was caught up in the limbo over the prolonged regulatory approval of the $8 billion Skydance-Paramount Global merger.
The series, written and executive produced by Tobias Lindholm and Frank Pugliese, was first and only Skydance production budgeted against the Skydance-Paramount deal. With the FCC review taking far longer than anticipated before President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against CBS News was settled, new spending on 9/12 was paused in early May, and the project, which had been targeting an August start of production, was put on hold altogether a couple of weeks later.
Deadline reported at the time that Skydance remained committed to the series, which is now eying a 2026 start. That remains the case for the new Paramount.
Dana Goldberg told Deadline at a press event with the new Paramount leadership Wednesday that 9/12 is a priority for the new Paramount TV Studios, which absorbed the assets of Skydance Television as well as Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios. In her role as Co-Chair of Paramount Pictures and Chair of Paramount Television, former Skydance President of Production Goldberg oversees Paramount TV Studios, run by Skydance TV President Matt Thunell, which will be Paramount’s studio designated for streaming series.
She called 9/12 a special project for everyone involved that they are currently figuring out how to make work logistically as the schedule has to be adjusted to fit Strong’s existing commitments, including hist starring role in Peter Morgan’s new Netflix series The Boys From Brazil.
While there has been no final resolution yet, Goldberg is optimistic.
And while PTVS is committed to sell to both internal and external streamers, 9/12 has been earmarked for Paramount+, now run by Netflix alumna Holland.
9/12, which was originally set up at Sister in 2021 as The Best Of Us before moving to Skydance late last year, tells the story of the first responders of 9/11, relying on heavily researched accounts, and pays tribute to those impacted. The series’ relocation to Skydance followed Holland’s departure as Global CEO of Sister to become an senior adviser to Skydance CEO David Ellison on the streaming aspects of the Paramount Global deal.
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