Nicole Kidman on Exploring 'New Territory' With Taylor Sheridan in 'Special Ops: Lioness' (Exclusive)

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Charades and UTA Independent Film Group have boarded “Mother, Couch,” the high-profile feature debut of Niclas Larsson, which has just dropped its first-look image, shared in exclusivity with Variety. An all-star cast is led by Taylor Russell, Ewan McGregor, Ellen Burstyn, Rhys Ifans, Lara Flynn Boyle and F. Murray Abraham and now Lake Bell.

shredded the Sheridan-created show in a near-lethal takedown, where she calls out the series as “an unabashed work of military propaganda that positions the United States Armed Forces as the ‘strong’ who ‘protect the weak.'”Described by Paramount+ as being “inspired by an actual US Military program,” the show follows Joe (Zoë Saldaña) through her work and private life as “the tip of the CIA’s spear in the war on terror.” The series boasts boldfacers like Nicole Kidman (who executive produced as well) and Morgan Freeman. It offers a fictionalized account of a group of female fighters who worked to root out women terrorists at the height of the War on Terror, after 9/11.

Remember Dave Annable’s unforgettable demise in “Yellowstone”‘s first episode? Well, it turns out that fateful moment almost didn’t happen.

Fans of Yellowstone who are still smarting over the surprise death of Lee Dutton in the pilot episode of the Paramount Network drama should be pleased to see that Taylor Sheridan made up for killing off Dave Annable’s character. Annable now plays the doctor-husband of Zoe Saldana in Sheridan’s latest series Special Ops: Lioness, which premiered Sunday on Paramount+.

As the man behind Yellowstone and its myriad spinoffs, Taylor Sheridan is one of the most important people at Paramount Network — but the Yellowstone universe is only one part of his empire.

inspiration for Paramount’s forthcoming action thriller “Special Ops: Lioness,” which debuts Sunday and stars Zoe Saldaña, 45, alongside Oscar winners Nicole Kidman, 56, and Morgan Freeman, 86. The eight-part series — a brainchild of Taylor Sheridan, the visionary behind “Yellowstone” and “Sons of Anarchy” — follows the journey of a young Marine named Cruz Manuelos (Laysla De Oliveria, 31, of Netflix’s “Locke & Key”).She’s recruited by the CIA’s Lioness Engagement Team to befriend the daughter of a terrorist group leader in an effort to ravage the criminal organization. Saldaña, who plays “Joe,” the station chief charged with readying new recruits for undercover operations, explains the significance of the niche program to De Oliveira’s “Manuelos” in the first episode, noting the evolution of their task force’s duties over the past two decades. “When the Lioness team was first formed we needed female soldiers to frisk and interrogate female insurgents,” she says. “What we do now is locate the wives and the girlfriends and daughters of these high value targets and we place an operative close to them,” continues Joe.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Power publicist Alla Plotkin is teaming up with Jillian Roscoe, becoming a partner in Birch Public Relations. Roscoe launched the firm in March 2023 after leaving ID PR. Plotkin also departed ID at about the same time but didn’t announce her next move until her new partnership with Roscoe. Plotkin’s clients, including Sarah Paulson, Nicholas Braun, Bette Midler, Holland Taylor, Harvey Guillen and Titus Burgess, will join Birch’s roster, which includes Donald Glover, Jeremy Allen White, Sharon Horgan, John Cho, James Marsden, Kemp Powers, Gerard Butler, Judy Greer, Jesse Garcia, Mandy Moore, David Duchovny, Lake Bell, Jim Parsons, Fred Armisen, Jake Johnson, Ben Schwartz, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Melissa Rauch, Hannah Fidell, Ken Marino, Sarah Chalke, London Hughes, Lewis Howes, Zach Woods, Ty Burrell, Clay Tarver, Kevin Tancharoen, Julian Dennison, Jake Szymanski, Nicolette Robinson, Anna Drezen, Dan Perrault and Noah Pink.

Say what you will about the melodramatic, often episodic, and currently-stretched-thin writing of Taylor Sheridan, the multi-hyphenate Paramount+ impresario; not only does he know how to craft a gripping opening sequence, he knows how to elegantly employ it to launch an entire story, character arc and plot of a show. Known for his acclaimed gritty and muscular screenwriting (the Academy Award-nominated “Hell Or High Water,” “Sicario”)— and seemingly writing, running, overseeing, and managing a dozen Paramount+ shows, including the hit series “Yellowstone”— his latest is the CIA espionage thriller, “Special Ops: Lioness.” Zoe Saldaña (“Guardians Of The Galaxy”) stars as Joe, the Lioness Program director tasked with training, managing, and leading her female undercover operatives in covert missions around the world.

Alison Herman TV Critic The women in Taylor Sheridan projects tend to be lone wolves. They also tend to fit into specific, narrow archetypes: the vulnerable naif (Kate Macer in “Sicario”; Jane Banner in “Wind River”); the ferocious badass (Beth Dutton in “Yellowstone”; Hannah Faber in “Those Who Wish Me Dead”); the steely matriarch (Beth’s ancestors Margaret and Cara, who anchor the “Yellowstone” prequel series “1883” and “1923”). The screenwriter is himself a lone wolf, posing for magazine covers in a cowboy hat while denigrating the use of writers’ rooms, and rose to the top of Hollywood’s hierarchy in part through a shameless embrace of genre tropes. Sheridan’s latest series for the streaming service Paramount+ takes its title from another kind of predator — one who travels in packs. “Special Ops: Lioness” isn’t just the first Sheridan show to feature a true multiplicity of female leads; it’s also the first to have an explicitly gendered premise. But just because “Lioness” features more women protagonists doesn’t mean Sheridan has grown any more nuanced in his depiction of them.

Nicole Kidman and Zoe Saldana are big names with lots in common - they’ve both played superheroes, they’re international superstars and they’re acting together in Paramount+ thriller Special Ops: Lioness. However, it was the pair’s identical star signs that ultimately forged their friendship on set.

Obviously, Taylor Sheridan is the king of Paramount+. The creator of “Yellowstone” and seemingly a dozen other shows, Sheridan, was an Academy Award-nominated screenwriter (“Sicario,” “Hell Or High Water”), but soon began growing by leaps and bounds, directing “Wind River” in 2017 and then was essentially given the keys to TV on Paramount as a writer, director, showrunner, producer and THE man who runs things there.

Zoe Saldaña’s latest project was a dream come true.

Laysla De Oliveira still can’t believe she got to work with such huge names on “Special Ops: Lioness”.

Paramount+ has canceled the red carpet premiere of upcoming series “Special Ops: Lioness” amid the recently enacted SAG-AFTRA strike, TheWrap has confirmed.“In light of today’s news of an official SAG strike, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the red carpet premiere of ‘Special Ops: Lioness,’ planned for Tuesday, July 18,” the streamer wrote in a statement. “We recognize this is disappointing news and apologize for any inconvenience it causes.

The red carpet premiere of Paramount+ series, Special Ops: Lioness, is not moving forward due to the SAG-AFTRA Strike.

BreAnna Bell There will be no red carpet premiere for Paramount’s “Special Ops: Lioness,” Variety has learned. The cancellation comes on the heels of SAG-AFTRA’s announcement that the guild will commence its own strike against the film and TV companies, alongside the Writers Guild. “We recognize this is disappointing news and apologize for any inconvenience it causes. We are very excited to celebrate the series and can’t wait for it to debut to Paramount+ audiences on July 23rd,” read Paramount+’s official confirmation of the change in plans for the premiere event of Taylor Sheridan’s military drama . Originally scheduled to take place on July 18 at the Directors Guild of America Theatre in Los Angeles, the “Special Ops: Lioness” premiere was scheduled to include appearances by stars including Zoe Saldaña, Laysla De Oliveira, Nicole Kidman, Morgan Freeman, Michael Kelly, Dave Annable, Jill Wagner, LaMonica Garrett, James Jordan, Austin Hébert, Jonah Wharton, Stephanie Nur, Hannah Love Lanier and Sam Asghari.

Nicole Kidman is opening up about how she got involved from just being a producer on Special Ops: Lioness, to being one of its’ stars.

EXCLUSIVE: Nicole Kidman hadn’t figured on taking an acting role in the latest entry in the Taylor Sheridan universe, Special Ops: Lioness. Then she got hooked.

Morgan Freeman had to skip the U.K. portion of his press tour for his new show this week after he came down with a contagious infection.  The 86-year-old actor was supposed to join co-stars Zoe Saldana and Nicole Kidman in promoting "Yellowstone" co-creator Taylor Sheridan’s new project "Special Ops: Lioness" about a female Marine recruited by the CIA.

Some of the best Yellowstone scenes take place around the Dutton dining room table, with meals served by their private chef, Gator. Gator, however, is not an actor — he’s a real cook.