Paramount’s Dan Cohen Talks ‘NCIS: Tony & Ziva,’ ‘Adulthood’ With Josh Gad, Kaya Scodelario

Paramount and the revived Republic Pictures are betting on indie films to complement their tentpole movies like Mission Impossible and Gladiator II.

The studio’s chief content licensing officer Dan Cohen spoke at a MIPCOM Media Mastermind Keynote Session in Cannes Tuesday afternoon, confirming the U.S. and Canadian rights to their “Coen brothers-esque” noir film Adulthood, directed by Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure Star Alex Winter, has been picked up by Republic Pictures.

“You get an announcement today,” Cohen, also president of Republic Pictures, told World Screen’s Anna Carugati, who was moderating. “We have a film coming called Adulthood. It’s a bit of a Coen brothers-esque [story]. It stars Josh Gad and Kaya Scodelario. It’s a really fun movie. We also have a film called Bad Apples coming from Saoirse Ronan, a four-time Oscar nominee and I think a good actor working today.”

He continued: “So we’re trying to do interesting, indie films to complement the huge tentpole movies [like] Mission Impossible, Gladiator II at Christmas, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 at Christmas.”

The session was dominated by the buzz around NCIS spinoff NCIS: Tony & Ziva, created by John McNamara and starring returning actors Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo, who also serve as executive producers on the program. “Their episodes are just magic. Their chemistry is undeniable. They are absolute fan favorites,” Cohen said, before a short teaser trailer for the upcoming series that showed the characters rekindling the flame while raising their young daughter.

Cohen continued: “Yes, they’ve done a few cameos, but they have not been together on air for 12 years, and this is the story fans asked about the most.”

Pablo said of the show, expected in 2025: “I think the fans have always wanted to see what happened between [Tony and Ziva]… We find them in Europe raising their child, who’s almost a teenager, fantastic little Tali, and they are trying to make their relationship work.”

Weatherly emphasized the global appeal of NCIS that has bolstered the energy behind this spinoff. “I had the opportunity, with NCIS, to travel to Australia, Italy and Germany and England and France, and it became this very clear, international show. It’s that global impact… It’s about a family in jeopardy, in peril, trying to find a way to do the right thing, inhaling circumstances, two people trying to communicate, two people trying to love each other.”