Power ends today after six relentless and often ruthless seasons, but the Courtney Kemp created show is going to live on not once, not twice, not three times, but with four spinoffs now.
With the Mary J. Blige-led Power Book II: Ghost unveiled last summer and set to debut on Starz later this year with a number of members of the mothershow in the cast, the tale of the “big rich town,” as the theme song says, is also spreading its wings in three other directions. Over the years, a lot of other shows have banked on sequel or spinoff afterlife – (hey there Walking Dead), But, going large as Power has long aimed, no one in TV history has dropped this many new spinoffs at once, at least as far as I can tell.
As you can see in the video teaser above, prequel Power Book III: Raising Kanan is coming, diving in to the rise of the now deceased character that Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson played on the original Power.
Along with a jump back to the 1990s for Raising Kanan, there’s the sharp elbowed Empire State politics of Power Book IV: Influence with governor-to-be Rashad Tate (Larenz Tate) in the arena. Add to that, fan favorite and resident psychopath Tommy Egan (Joseph Sikora) is putting pedal to the metal to get out of NYC and head for the very different bright lights of LA for Power Book V: Force.
It’s a strong but relatively risk free play for the Lionsgate-owned premium cabler to cash in with a full house on its biggest show …or, as 50 Cent has been saying for months – #powerneverends.
“In television history, only a select few shows have inspired four consecutive series extensions, launched into active production and development at the same time,” declared Starz boss Jeffrey Hirsch on Sunday as the final episode of Power proper launched on the cabler’s app this morning and on the traditional small screen tonight. “These new and exciting chapters will continue the journey of some of Power‘s most controversial characters while featuring a growing ensemble of complex, distinct characters along with the high-octane drama that set Power in a class of its own.”
No premiere dates have been made public for the newly announced and long rumored spinoffs. However, with Power Book II production well underway, my understanding is that writers rooms for the trio of the other spinoffs are pounding away on those laptops, if you know what I mean?
In this era of streaming, what we do know is that all of the four new Power series will be going global with same day availability on Starz’s international platform STARZPLAY
Having inked an overall deal with Lionsgate back in late 2018, series creator and showrunner Kemp produces Power and its spinoffs through her End of Episode banner, Fellow EP Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson produces via his G-Unit Film and Television shingle, as does Mark Canton through his Atmosphere Entertainment MM. End of Episode’s Chris Salek and Danielle DeJesus, Shana Stein and Bart Wenrich also serve as Eps.
Lionsgate TV produces the original Power and now the four spinoffs series for Starz = cha-ching!