Although Empire is over, it looks like we’ll be getting more of Cookie Lyon.
According to Deadline, Taraji P. Henson has just signed a first-look deal with 20th Century Fox and the first deal of business is a spinoff based around Taraji’s character Cookie Lyon.
Taraji will be joining forces with Christine Conley from the production company Working Title, to have the project run under her new company TPH Entertainment.
The series will be written, and executive produced by “Empire” co-creator Danny Strong, as well as Stacy Littlejohn and Yolonda Lawrence. Sanaa Hamri is set to direct the series, and if the show goes to pilot, Strong, Littlejohn and Lawrence will also serve as the showrunners.
Prior to the sixth and final season of “Empire,” Taraji and Lee Daniels have mentioned their interest in continuing Cookie’s story.
Taraji spoke on the news about the deal and said, “I believe that normalizing stories around stigmatizing matters will make them more palatable for audiences to embrace.”
She continued, “Art can change perception and I plan to develop projects that can help further the conversation. I also aim to help cultivate and establish new young talent and their stories because they are our future and deserve a voice and a platform to be heard. I’m so excited to have 20th, led by the talented Carolyn Cassidy, support me in this new endeavor!”
20th Century Fox TV president Carolyn Cassidy added, “We were lucky to have a front-row seat to Taraji’s meteoric rise as a fixture on television through Empire. Through that relationship, everyone at the company grew to appreciate her passion for storytelling and her strong creative gut instinct. With Empire finished we look forward to helping her explore stories that need to be told through her talent and advocacy.”
As we previously reported, “Empire” was renewed for its sixth and final season last year following the controversy surrounding Jussie Smollett.
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TSR STAFF: Jade Ashley @Jade_Ashley94
