If thereโs one thing Paramount+ are all about these days, itโs the streaming franchise business. And in the wake of its merger with Showtime, the suits pulling all those strings behind the scenes have decided that Yellowstone shouldnโt be the only expanded universe in their collective stable. Hence why Billions is now on track for a couple of its own spin-offs.
According to Entertainment Weekly, the network has mapped out a total of four different potential related properties, including one titled Millions and another titled Trillions (lol). Millions will be an off-shoot of the main series and young up-and-comers in finance, while Trillions promises to be a โsoapierโ affair involved with the mega-rich sect of society a la Dynasty.
โBillions creators Brian Koppelman and David Levien are currently working out what the first spin-off will be, one thatโs set in Miami. They are also overseeing development of a potential spin-off set in London,โ reports Nick Romano of EW.
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Of course, news of the forthcoming Billions spin-offs does beg the question: is less more?
Fans have understandably been questioning whether the financial drama is even worth continuing ever since the departure of Damian Lewis as Bobby Axelrod shortly after the passing of Lewisโ real-life wife Helen McCrory (Peaky Blinders).
A combination of this tragedy and Bobby Axelrodโs story reaching its natural conclusion influenced the British thespianโs decision to make his exit, who revealed he planned to stay close to home with his teenage children in light of the โsadness in our familyโ around the time season 5 concluded.
โItโs difficult to keep mining, creatively. We know who he is,โ Damian Lewis said of his character to The New York Times.
โThereโs an opportunity maybe for me to return. But for now, broadly speaking, Axe has been vanquished.โ
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For the uninitiated, Lewisโ Axelrod fled to Switzerland as a means of evading the full legal fury of long-time nemesis, New York State Attorney General Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti). His freedom does, however, came at a cost of his entire fortune. Or in the words of Axe himself while speaking with rival billionaire Mike Prince (Corey Stoll):
โSoโฆ this is what it is to lose.โ
In season 6, Corey Stoll took the reins as series lead alongside a cast which also included David Constabile as Mike โWagsโ Wagner, Asia Kate Dillon as Taylor Mason, Maggie Siff as Wendy Rhoades, Condola Rashad as Kate Sacker, Kelly AuCoin as โDollarโ Bill Stream, Jeffrey DeMunn as Charles Rhoades Sr., and plenty more. To varying results, might we add.
Interestingly enough, Showtime also has franchise expansion for Dexter on the burner, including an origin story set in the titular serial killerโs hometown of Miami (working title Dexter: Origins) as well as a prequel series about John Lithgowโs Trinity Killer, which you can read all about here.
Billions season 7 premieres on Showtime later this year.
