In the wake of its merger with Paramount+, Showtime is getting into the franchise business. Its longest-running show, Billions, has four spinoffs in the works, including Millions and Trillions. Entertainment Weekly reports that Millions will be a spinoff focusing on young up-and-comers in the high-stakes world of high finance, while Trillions will reportedly be a soapier exploration of the mega-rich, akin to Dallas or Dynasty. There are also spinoffs in the works set in Miami and London; their full concepts are still in the works.

The so-called “expanded universe” approach follows the pattern of Paramount‘s biggest hit, Yellowstone, which has expanded its universe with the prequel series 1883 and 1923, and will soon expand further with Bass Reeves and 6666. This pivot was foreshadowed last month, when new Showtime head Chris McCarthy stated, “We have already begun conversations with our production partners about what content makes sense moving forward and which shows have franchise potential.” It also follows a period of post-merger culling at Showtime, when many of the network’s fledgling series, including American Gigolo and Let the Right One In, were canceled

The move comes at an interesting time for Billions, which has now become Showtime‘s longest-running series. Debuting in 2016, show follows the rivalry between unscrupulous hedge fund manager Bobby Axelrod (Damien Lewis) and driven US Attorney Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti), and their continuing attempts to destroy each other – or at least it did, until Lewis departed the show following season 5. Axelrod was written out of the series, fleeing to Switzerland, and his role at his hedge fund (and in the series) was taken over by Michael Prince (Corey Stoll) in season 6, which concluded last spring. Despite this upheaval, the series has continued to be a ratings winner for Showtime, and its seventh season will debut later this year. Showtime’s exploration of a galaxy of spinoffs is, of course, a further vote of confidence in the program. Billions also stars Maggie Siff, David Costabile, Condola Rashad, Asia Kate Dillon, Jeffrey DeMunn, Daniel Breaker, and Sakina Jaffrey.

The spinoff series will be executive produced by Billions co-creators Brian Koppelman and David Levien. The duo have had a production deal with Showtime since 2019.

Billions‘ seventh season will premiere later this year on Showtime. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.

via Collider