Over nine years since the sensational boy band announced its indefinite hiatus and nearly a year since Liam Payne’s death, two former members of One Direction will be reuniting on-screen, according to several media reports.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, project representatives confirmed ex-bandmates Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson will star in a three-part Netflix documentary, likely to launch on the streamer in 2026.
Variety reports that the documentary, which has yet to be publicly named, will follow Malik and Tomlinson on a “spontaneous” road trip across the United States. Also included in Variety’s story, an official press release said the boys’ adventure includes “reconnection, exploration and a lot of laughter.”
Malik and Tomlinson, the only living ex-members with children, are also said to discuss fatherhood in the documentary. Billboard reported that Malik, who has a home in Pennsylvania, shares a 5-year-old daughter with former partner Gigi Hadid, and that Tomlinson is the father to a 9-year-old son with former partner Briana Jungwirth.
“The series is a rare look inside the world of two of the most famous — and most private — men on the planet opening up about life, loss and fatherhood,” Malik and Tomlinson’s representatives told THR.
Payne, who died at the age of 31 after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina in October 2024, was the only other father from the band. His son is now 8 years old.
All former One Direction members, including Harry Styles and Niall Horan, attended Payne’s 2024 funeral and shared written tributes with fans on social media.
Although Styles and Horan are not said to be involved in the upcoming docuseries, the project still aims to give the worldwide One Direction fandom some nostalgic healing through an inside look at the post-band lives of two of its most private members — Malik and Tomlinson, Variety reports.
Malik famously left One Direction in a 2015 announcement that broke the hearts of many Directioners and sparked early rumors of the band breaking up. Although there was only one more year of One Direction after that, Malik’s early split still left a sour taste for many… including his again co-worker, Tomlinson.
Just months after Malik left, record producer Naughty Boy posted a photo of Malik and Tomlinson on X, formerly Twitter, with the caption, “Replace this.” Malik re-Tweeted it, and Tomlinson replied to the post, saying, “Remember when you were 12 and you used to think those Mac filters for your pictures were cool haha! Some people still do HA!”
The producer responded, starting a short spat on the public forum, to which Malik joined in on and wrote to Tomlinson, “remember when you had a life and stopped making b***** comments about mine ?”
Although the argument played out through a brief back-and-forth, it was enough to shake the millions of fans in the fresh months since Malik’s departure.
Any potential hard feelings between the two were not held for long, as Tomlinson addressed the Twitter feud days later in One Direction’s first TV appearance post-Zayn, taking place on “The Late Late Show with James Corden.”
BBC recounts Tomlinson telling Corden, “There was a bit of back and forth, we’re on good terms now…I’ve never been very good at biting my tongue, I think I get it off my mum.”
In the decade that followed, Malik continued to face waves of criticism for his decision to leave and rumors of disliking the band. However, in addition to various moments where the former members were spotted supporting one another in their solo ventures, Malik further quelled any remaining doubts on the 10th anniversary of his departure from the band, March 25, 2025, when he performed a One Direction song for the first time in his solo career.
Now, Malik is next set to host a week-long residency in Las Vegas in January 2026 — the same month Tomlinson has announced to drop his forthcoming album, “How Did I Get Here?”
Despite the media reports and professional poster photos of Malik and Tomlinson for the upcoming docuseries, neither artist publicly confirmed the project as of Friday afternoon… only a strong nod toward the idea from Tomlinson’s recent iHeartRadio interview.
When asked whether he was teaming up with Malik for something special, Tomlinson smiled and addressed fans’ speculations, saying, “Yeah, I heard that… I thought that was pretty interesting, yeah. Pretty astute… I suppose they’ll just have to wait and see.”
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