‘Special Op: Lioness’: Paramount+ Drops Trailer For New Taylor Sheridan Drama Starring Zoe Saldaña

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.

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 acknowledges the controversy that surrounded her portrayal of Nina Simone. In a new interview with CBS Sunday Morning, Saldaña opened up about her new series “Special Ops: Lioness,” and about her career, including the harsh criticism she received when playing the role of Simone in the year 2016. Zoe Saldaña and Adria Arjona will celebrate Marco Perego’s ‘The Absence of Eden’ at the Taormina Film FestivalZoe Saldaña almost missed the opportunity of working alongside Nicole Kidman“I should have never accepted the part,” said Saldaña.

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”.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Netflix is to release its Japanese live action film “Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead,” on Aug. 3. The horror comedy film is based on the hit manga (comic book series) by Aso Haro and Takata Kotaro that debuted in the Shogakukan magazine Monthly Sunday Gene-X in October 2018. It has also spawned an animated series that plays on Hulu in North American and other territories. The underlying comic is a wackily original melding of the salaryman gag manga – a popular genre in Japan seldom exported abroad – with the sort of zombie holocaust story that has become a Hollywood staple.

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.

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.

Netflix has dropped the trailer for the second half of The Lincoln Lawyer and…no surprise, Mickey Haller survives that brutal beating.

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.

Zoe Saldaña is looking back at the opportunity presented to her by starring in  creator Taylor Sheridan's new Paramount+ drama,  — and how she almost missed out.Saldaña spoke with ET at the premiere of the new series at the Tate Britain in London, England, on Tuesday — where she walked the red carpet alongside co-star Nicole Kidman — and she opened up about joining onto the series after finishing her work on the and franchises.«It feels great being here, feels wonderful knowing that two or three years ago I was whispering to myself just how disheartened I was, because I had reached a peak in my life where I wanted to challenge myself,» she explained. «I wanted to see what was out there beyond these amazing franchises, that have granted me so many opportunities but have also taken so much of my time.»"[I felt] I can be, I don't know, challenging myself a little more, and then Taylor called in the middle of the pandemic and presented me this opportunity," she continued.

Nicole Kidman is diving into «new territory» with creator Taylor Sheridan's latest Paramount+ series, Special Ops: Lioness.Inspired by a real-life U.S. military program, the series follows the life of Joe (Zoe Saldaña) while she attempts to balance her personal and professional life as the tip of the CIA's spear in the war on terror.

Nicole Kidman and Zoe Saldana are starring in the new Paramount+ series Special Ops: Lioness and they just launched a press tour for the show!

The trailer for Netflix’s new limited series “Painkiller” has arrived.

Zoe Saldana made a major change to her hair after rocking waist-length tresses for years.

How did the Opioid Crisis begin? Netflix’s upcoming series “Painkiller” looks at the origin of OxyContin and its resulting impact.