Fox Reportedly Says ‘No’ to ‘Empire’ Spinoff With Taraji P. Henson
Cookie’s time at Fox is over.
The Empire spinoff centered around Taraji P. Henson’s character — focusing on what’s next for Cookie Lyon after the original series’ ended — will not be happening at Fox, Deadline reports. However, it’s possible that it could still see the light of day: The report also says that Disney TV Studios’ 20th Television and Imagine TV are seeing if there’s interest at other outlets, such as ABC or Hulu.
Empire co-creator Danny Strong was on board to write, with Stacy A. Littlejohn and Yolonda Lawrence. Sanaa Hamri was set to direct. Executive producers included Empire co-creator Lee Daniels, Brian Grazer, Samie Falvey, and Henson.
The Fox series ran for six seasons, with the finale airing in April. It did not end as originally planned, due to the pandemic forcing a shutdown while in the middle of filming the final episodes. There were some questions they weren’t able to address, executive producer Brett Mahoney previously told TV Insider, “so that’s why I’m hoping that we can really still shoot our intended series finale.”
(Chuck Hodes / ©Fox / courtesy Everett Collection)
The EP had also said there might be “some creative ways to at least get the script out.” If this spinoff moves forward, perhaps it would be one way to get some answers.
Henson can currently be seen on Facebook Watch, where she has a new talk show, Peace of Mind with Taraji.
In addition to Empire, Henson’s previous TV credits include Person of Interest, Eli Stone, and Boston Legal.
