If there’s one thing Paramount+ are all about these days, it’s 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 shouldn’t 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 “soapier” affair involved with the mega-rich sect of society a la Dynasty.
“Billions creators Brian Koppelman and David Levien are currently working out what the first spin-off will be, one that’s set in Miami. They are also overseeing development of a potential spin-off set in London,” 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 Lewis’ real-life wife Helen McCrory (Peaky Blinders).
A combination of this tragedy and Bobby Axelrod’s story reaching its natural conclusion influenced the British thespian’s decision to make his exit, who revealed he planned to stay close to home with his teenage children in light of the “sadness in our family” around the time season 5 concluded.
“It’s difficult to keep mining, creatively. We know who he is,” Damian Lewis said of his character to The New York Times.
“There’s an opportunity maybe for me to return. But for now, broadly speaking, Axe has been vanquished.”
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For the uninitiated, Lewis’ 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):
“So… this is what it is to lose.”
In season 6, Corey Stoll took the reins as series lead alongside a cast which also included David Constabile as Mike “Wags” Wagner, Asia Kate Dillon as Taylor Mason, Maggie Siff as Wendy Rhoades, Condola Rashad as Kate Sacker, Kelly AuCoin as “Dollar” 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 killer’s hometown of Miami (working title Dexter: Origins) as well as a prequel series about John Lithgow’s Trinity Killer, which you can read all about here.
Billions season 7 premieres on Showtime later this year.
