‘NCIS: Sydney,’ ‘SEAL Team’ Movie Coming to Paramount+

Paramount+ and CBS Studios are growing two of their key franchises.

CBS CEO George Cheeks used the company’s Paramount+ investor presentation Tuesday to announce a local Australian take on mega-franchise NCIS and a movie incarnation of CBS’ recently renewed drama SEAL Team as it looks to expand its IP for a global and streaming audience.

NCIS: Sydney, from NCIS: Los Angeles creator Shane Brennan (an Aussie native) will oversee the series, which marks the first time the franchise — formerly fronted by Mark Harmon — is getting an international edition. The series will be available domestically and on Paramount+ in Australia in 2023. The show will feature local stories, be composed of local actors and producers and be filmed in Sydney. Additional details were not immediately available.

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Sources note that NCIS: Sydney was developed specifically for Paramount+ Australia with potential to play on other Paramount+ platforms around the world.

Additionally, former CBS drama turned Paramount+ original SEAL Team is getting a stand-alone movie that is being made exclusively for the streamer’s domestic service. Star and exec producer David Boreanaz will reteam with exec producers Christopher Chulack and Spencer Hudnut for the movie, which is slated to “expand the storytelling universe” of the military drama, which was recently renewed for its sixth season after airing its first four on the linear network.

The expansion for both CBS Studios-produced franchises comes as procedurals like NCIS and SEAL Team represent a key area of focus for the streaming service. Streaming execs also have plans to revisit Criminal Minds with a number of original stars as IP remains a backbone of platforms from fellow media conglomerates WarnerMedia, Disney and NBCUniversal.

For its part, Paramount+ recently renewed updated takes of The Game and iCarly as IP from other ViacomCBS brands like Nickelodeon continues to populate the service with movies based on SpongeBob SquarePants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Smurfs, among others, set for the streamer.

NCIS: Sydney marks the first localized original incarnation of the global franchise after domestic series NCIS (itself a spinoff of JAG), NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: New Orleans and the recently launched NCIS: Hawai’i. Paramount+, like other streamers, has been ramping up global originals as it looks to expand to new markets in a bid to compete with Netflix on an international scale.