Good news for fans of the TV series Special Ops: Lioness.
It’s been quite some time since we’ve seen or heard anything about the Zoe Saldana-led show. The second season wrapped up in December of 2024, and considering Taylor Sheridan typically likes to keep his projects on a consistent release schedule (that’s partly why Sheridan has such a loyal following), the silence in the updates department and delay in production caused some concern… and even sparked rumors that Lioness wouldn’t continue.
If you were holding your breath about the special operations and intelligence series, you can now breathe a huge sigh of relief.
Deadline finally reported that the hit show starring Zoe Saldana, Laysla De Oliveira, Morgan Freeman, Nicole Kidman and Dave Annable would return for a third season. The news from Deadline also confirmed that Special Ops: Lioness and its stars were originally picked up for a three-season run, but Kidman had to work out a new deal for Season 3, and that played into the delay.
If you’ve never watched the show and you’re wondering what it’s about, Lioness centers around a CIA operative named Joe (Zoe Saldana) who tries to balance work and personal life while on the frontlines of her agency’s war on terror. Like Mayor of Kingstown, it’s one of Sheridan’s most underrated series that’s currently airing. And it appears that the next season of Lioness will air sometime in 2026.
How do I know that? Simple, Taylor-Sheridan-show-based math really. The third season of Special Ops: Lioness is scheduled to begin shooting in October of this year. That means that if all goes according to plan, the show should air somewhere around 6 to 8 months after that (Landman Season 2 started filming in March of this year, and will air in November).
Sheridan’s military thriller will primarily film at 101 Studios in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, which just opened up earlier this year. Sheridan teamed up with Paramount and real estate development company Hillwood to bring the studio hub to the Texas area.
A press release that was made public earlier this month made the announcement official:
“Hillwood, a Perot Company, today announced a landmark partnership with SGS Studios, which will operate the venture and oversee all production services, to bring large-scale film and television production to the 27,000-acre AllianceTexas development in Fort Worth.
In collaboration with Paramount Television — the studio behind cultural landmarks like Yellowstone and Landman — SGS Studios has launched a cutting-edge production campus totaling 450,000 square feet, purpose-built to support four concurrent large-scale productions. This development marks the largest operating studio facility in Texas.”
And the facilities that make up SGS Studios are fully prepared to replace Hollywood.
Sound stages, mill space, wardrobe, and green screen capabilities are all included in the expansive property, and the space has already been put to use. Back in March, Taylor Sheridan – along with Paramount and 101 Studios – broke the campus in by filming portions of the second season of Landman.
Typical Taylor Sheridan… wasting no time to get to business. He can’t really afford to, considering he’s got his name attached to approximately 112 active TV shows and movies. That’s obviously an exaggeration, just to be clear, but he’s certainly got more than a dozen.
