Paramount+ has greenlit Ascent, a new character-driven thriller starring and executive produced by EGOT winner Viola Davis. Created by John Logan, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter behind Skyfall, Gladiator and Penny Dreadful, the series marks Davis’s first lead television role since her Emmy-winning turn as Annalise Keating on How to Get Away with Murder.
Davis will play Catriona Vail, an elite corporate fixer whose ruthless skills have made her indispensable to billion-dollar clients. When her estranged daughter is placed in danger, those same skills become deeply personal. The series is set in the high-stakes world of global corporate crisis and damage control.
“I am overwhelmingly excited about this journey with the great John Logan,” Davis said. “We won the lottery with this one. Work in which both story and character are bold, awe inspiring and deeply unique is why I became an artist. We at JuVee are deeply grateful to John Logan, Michael Aguilar, and Paramount. We are ready to create magic.”
Logan will serve as showrunner and executive producer alongside frequent collaborator Michael Aguilar, whose credits include The Miniature Wife and The Departed. Davis and Julius Tennon executive produce through their JuVee Productions banner.
“Viola Davis doesn’t just take on roles, she transforms them,” said Jane Wiseman, Head of Originals for Paramount+. “Catriona Vail is an incredibly complex character and Viola is exactly the generational talent to bring her to life. With John Logan and Michael Aguilar behind the camera, Ascent is high-stakes television at its best.”
Logan most recently wrote Michael, which crossed $1 billion at the global box office to become the highest-grossing biopic ever. This marks only his second television series after Penny Dreadful and its spinoff Penny Dreadful: City of Angels on Showtime.
Davis will next be seen in Children of Blood and Bone and as the title character in Ally Clark. Paramount Television Studios is producing Ascent, which is set to begin production in Los Angeles in 2027 at the Paramount studio lot.