EXCLUSIVE: Following Lionsgate’s acquisition of eOne, Lionsgate Television has moved in to retain the top TV creator on eOne’s roster, Alexi Hawley, signing a premium overall deal with the creator/executive producer of two of eOne’s three ongoing premium scripted series, The Rookie on ABC, starring Nathan Fillion, and The Recruit on Netflix, headlined by Noah Centineo, as well as a hot new drama Lionsgate has out in the marketplace, The Envoy.
Hawley had emerged as the most prolific creator at eOne where he had two back-to-back overall deals, the most recent of which, signed in 2022, carried over to Lionsgate after the merger. In addition to The Rookie, which is headed to its seventh season, and The Recruit, going into Season 2, he also was behind spinoff The Rookie: Feds, which aired on ABC for one season, a run that was cut short at least in part by the strikes.
Lionsgate TV, which in February cut 70% of the overall and first-look deals across the combined company after the acquisition of eOne, already has Hawley working on a high-profile new project in development, The Envoy, a hostage recovery series based on Adam Ciralsky’s Vanity Fair story about Roger Carstens and his team at the State Department who have brought home 70 American hostages over the last four years.
The series has been drawing additional interest following the successful 24-person swap across multiple countries involving Wall Street Journal’s Evan Gershkovich, in which, as WSJ’s story on the complex operation revealed, Carstens played a key role.
“Lionsgate is truly a great creative partner, and I’m thrilled to continue making television with them,” Hawley said.
Under the new pact with Lionsgate TV, Hawley will continue to work on The Rookie, The Recruit and The Envoy, as well as develop more projects for the studio through his Perfectman Pictures whose TV operation is run by SVP Rachel Abarbanell. Given Lionsgate’s focus on franchise-building across film and TV, that could include exploring another Rookie offshoot, I hear.
“Alexi is one of the most talented creators working in television,” said Lionsgate Television Group Chair & Chief Creative Officer Kevin Beggs. “He has been instrumental to the success of The Rookie franchise and will continue to be a valuable partner for us moving forward.”
Hawley started off as a writer on Castle. After a break, he returned to the ABC series, starring Fillion, as executive producer/co-showrunner at the beginning of Season 8. He also served as executive producer/co-showrunner on The Following and created NBC’s State Of Affairs before retiming with Fillion for The Rookie. Hawley is repped by the Shuman Company and attorney Adam Kaller.
