Hilary Banks is leaving Bel-Air behind. Peacock is developing Hilary, a spinoff of its flagship drama series centered on Coco Jones’ breakout character, with Girls Trip and Harlem creator Tracy Oliver writing the project, Deadline exclusively reports. If ordered to series, it would make Bel-Air the first Peacock scripted original to spawn a spinoff.
The news comes four and a half years after Bel-Air launched on February 13, 2022, becoming the streamer’s first breakout hit. The dramatic reimagining of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, based on Morgan Cooper’s viral short film, wrapped its four-season run in December.
Jones played Hilary Banks, cousin to Jabari Banks’ Will Smith, across all four seasons. In the proposed spinoff, Hilary impulsively moves to New York after accepting an unexpected job offer from celebrity chef Yvonne Durand, determined to prove herself beyond her Bel-Air connections, only to find that success, friendship and love in the city come with a cost she never anticipated. The premise echoes the original Fresh Prince series finale, in which Hilary also headed to New York, while taking a different path than the Bel-Air finale, which sent her to Los Angeles to launch her own cafe.
Jones began the series as an influencer before pivoting to the culinary world, and her journey through the final season was defined by grief after the sudden death of her husband. “Even though she lost someone of a great magnitude, she kind of finds her purpose,” Jones told TVLine during the final season.
Oliver, who made history as the first Black woman to write a film that grossed more than $100 million with Girls Trip, is new to the franchise. Her slate is one of the busiest in the business, with Girls Trip 2, The Blackening 2, Paper Gods at Netflix, Not a Happy Family at Starz and holiday film Deck the Y’alls starring Octavia Spencer and Jessica Chastain all in the works.
Jones and Oliver executive produce alongside Will Smith, Terence Carter, David Boorstein and Miguel Melendez of Westbrook Studios, Benny Medina, Andy Borowitz, Susan Borowitz, Morgan Cooper, the Jeff Pollack trust and the Quincy Jones estate. The project comes from Westbrook Studios and Universal Television.
Beyond Bel-Air, Jones recently starred in Malcolm D. Lee’s psychological thriller Strung and has romantic comedy That’s Her in the can. Her debut album Why Not More? earned her a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Album at the 2026 ceremony.