“The name’s Cookie. Ask about me!”
Empire finished its six-season run this year however fans can rest easy — it looks like a spin-off is in the works.
Taraji P Henson, who played Loretha “Cookie” Lyon, has just signed on the dotted line to develop a series centred around her iconic role.
While there are no other details other than it “follows what is next for Cookie” and Henson will star and produce, it should go straight to a pilot.
According to Variety, the original Empire team are getting back together with co-creator Danny Strong on board to write the scripts and Sanaa Hamri to direct.
Cookie was by far one of the most popular characters on the series and was considered the reason for the show’s resounding popularity.
Henson, who has just launched her own production company TPH Entertainment, took home a Golden Globe in 2016 for the role, as well as three Emmy nominations.
“I believe that normalizing stories around stigmatizing matters will make them more palatable for audiences to embrace. 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 endeavour,” she said of her new company.
There’s no word on who in the Lyon family (including Terrence Howard) or the outer Empire world will be a part of the new series, but we can certainly bet it will be bad a–.