CANNES – “NCIS” fans attending Mipcom got a treat Tuesday when stars of the upcoming spinoff “NCIS: Tony & Ziva” joined Dan Cohen, head of Paramount Global Distribution and Republic Pictures, to show off the character reunion that has been around for 12 years.
“What a luxury it is to revisit a character after such a long time,” Cote de Pablo told the crowd at the Palais as she and Michael Weatherly took the Palais stage. De Pablo and Weatherly worked together for a decade on “NCIS,” playing old colleagues who always seemed to have a romantic spark. The pair haven’t been seen on-screen together in the “NCIS” universe since 2013, when De Pablo left as a series regular.
“I think the fans always wanted to see what happened between them,” De Pablo said. “Tony & Ziva” will premiere next year on Paramount+.
De Pablo introduced a clip that showed former “NCIS” characters Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David as a couple in Europe, raising their child “who’s almost a teenager, wonderful little Tali, and trying to make their relationship work.” she said.
Weatherly joked that he had to lose weight to return to the role of DiNozzo.
“We do a lot of running” during production, he said. “It is a very physical production process for both. He also noted that the show’s setting in Paris and other iconic locations “makes Europe an artist in the show.”
De Pablo noted that fans continually asked her about the fate of her character, who has returned for a handful of guest appearances on the series since her departure after season 11. “There’s always a lot of love from the fans,” she said.
The core of the new series revolves around family dynamics and their pasts in law enforcement, catching up with DiNozzo and David even though they are far away from the United States. “NCIS: Tony & Ziva” is “about a family in danger trying to do the right thing under difficult circumstances,” Weatherly explains.
Earlier in the session, Cohen outlined Paramount Global’s strategy to put together a large bundle of TV shows and films that could be licensed to be made available under the Paramount brand to regional streaming services around the world. Cohen noted that the studio’s first deal was unveiled at Mipcom last year with Greece’s Cosmote TV subscription service. Today, the studio has similar content bundles licensed to streamers in 80 markets, with its most recent deal being with BeIn Media for the Middle East and North Africa.
“It’s a triple win,” Cohen said of licensing a large amount of content rather than trying to go it alone in Greece and other markets. “It’s great for our licensing partners, it’s great for the industry” and the creative community, he said.
FAST streaming channels are also a priority to help Paramount make the most of its vault of more than 3,000 movies and more than 10,000 TV episodes. “We have such an extensive library,” he assured the crowd.
The session ended with a tribute from the Mipcom organizers to session moderator Anna Carugati, editor-in-chief of World Screen magazine. Carugati is resigning from World Screen after almost 30 years and many hours of service as a Mipcom moderator.