Skip to main content

Zoe Saldaña headlines first trailer for Special Ops: Lioness

Zoe Saldaña may be done with the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, but she’s got plenty of action left back on Earth. Except this time, Saldaña’s character is also giving the orders. Paramount+ has unveiled the trailer for Special Ops: Lioness, a new action/drama series from Taylor Sheridan. In the show, Saldaña plays Joe, the woman in charge of the CIA’s secretive Lioness Program that embeds undercover operatives with terrorists, often as their wives. And Joe’s latest recruit is a Marine named Cruz (Laysla De Oliveira), a woman who will be thrust into unimaginable dangers.

Special Ops: Lioness | Official Teaser | Paramount+

This series has an unusually high-profile cast that includes Morgan Freeman and Nicole Kidman as supporting players. Freeman plays Edwin Mullins, while Kidman portrays Kaitlyn Meade, the woman who oversees The Lioness Program alongside Donald Westfield (Michael Kelly). The program is meant to prevent another 9/11 terrorist attack, but in the trailer, it looks like Joe and Cruz’s decisions have already placed an unwelcome spotlight on the program.

Zoe Saldana in Special Ops: Lioness.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Dave Annable, Jill Wagner, LaMonica Garrett, James Jordan, Austin Hébert, Jonah Wharton, Stephanie Nur, and Hannah Love Lanier also star in the series.

Recommended Videos

Sheridan’s success with Yellowstone and its hit prequel series 1883 and 1923, as well as Tulsa King and Mayor of Kingston, is the reason why this show has such high-profile talent. Paramount+ keeps Sheridan busy, and this may be his most ambitious TV project to date. Saldaña, Wagner, and Kidman are executive producing Special Ops: Lioness alongside Sheridan, David C. Glasser,  Ron Burkle, Bob Yari, David Hutkin, Geyer Kosinski, Michael Malone and John Hillcoat.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

The first episode of Special Ops: Lioness will premiere on Sunday, July 23, on Paramount+.

Blair Marnell
Blair Marnell has been an entertainment journalist for over 15 years. His bylines have appeared in Wizard Magazine, Geek…
Legendary plans to bring Magic: The Gathering to film and TV
A powerful woman holds a glass apple in a painting from Magic: The Gathering.

For over three decades, the fantasy franchise Magic: The Gathering has been a force in collectible trading cards with forays into books, comics, and even video games. But there has yet to be a version of Magic: The Gathering that's escaped Hollywood's development Hell. However, the franchise is about to get another chance to expand into film and television.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Legendary Entertainment will join forces with Wizards of the Coast and its parent company, Hasbro Entertainment, to bring a new Magic: The Gathering shared universe to life in TV and movies. And making a film is the top priority.

Read more
You’re not that good. What to know about betting the Super Bowl so you don’t lose your shirt
Jalen Hurts of the Eagles jogs and stares.

Legal sports betting continues to sweep the nation. 38 states and Washington, D.C., now offer legal sports betting. This Sunday, many Americans will place wagers on Super Bowl LIX between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles. The Super Bowl is one of the biggest gaming days of the year. The American Gaming Association (AGA) projects $1.39 billion in bets will be placed on Super Bowl LIX.
If you do choose to place a wager, make sure to know what you're doing. The last thing you want to do is place an incorrect bet for the wrong amount of money. It helps to know some gambling lingo and the types of bets offered for the game. Here are some Super Bowl betting tricks, tips, and advice.
Super Bowl LIX basic bets: spreads, totals, and moneyline

The point spread is one of the most popular bets for a football game. Per FanDuel*, the current spread is Kansas City Eagles -1.5 (-105) and Philadelphia Eagles +1.5 (-115). In this situation, the Chiefs are the favorite, and the Eagles are the underdog. If you place a wager on the spread, Kansas City -1.5, the Chiefs need to beat the Eagles by more than 1.5 points to cover and win your bet. If your wager is on the Eagles, then the Eagles either need to win or lose by less than 1.5 points to win the bet.
How much will you win on the bet? The vig, or the "juice," is the cost of the bet. That figure is located in parentheses. In this case, the vig is -105 for the Chiefs and -115 for the Eagles. If you place a $105 bet on the Chiefs to cover -1.5 and it hits, you would win $100. With a $115 bet on the Eagles, a bettor would win $100 if the Philadelphia covers. If the spread somehow moves to Chiefs -2 or Eagles +2, then a push is in play. If you place a bet on the Chiefs and they win by exactly 2 points, it's a push. That means your money will be returned. The same goes for the Eagles if they lose by two points.
Totals refer to the combined amount of points scored by both teams in the game. It's called the "over/under." The total for Super LIX is 48.5. If 48 or more points are scored, the over hits. And if the game ends with 47 or less, the under hits.

Read more
3 great Hulu movies you need to stream this weekend (February 7-9)
Denzel Washington in He Got Game.

When picking selections for the weekend ahead, we don't tend to do so by year. But by a fluke of the February release schedule, all of our selections for the three great Hulu movies that you need to stream this weekend were released in theaters in 1998. And they couldn't be more different from each other.
Our first selection is a powerful father-and-son drama from director Spike Lee, while the second features one of Oprah Winfrey's performances. The final selection is a classic comedy that caused quite a stir when it was originally released, but it may seem relatively tame nearly three decades later.
Need more recommendations? We also have guides to the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max, and the best movies on Disney+.
He Got Game (1998)

Spike Lee's He Got Game is a basketball fable that allowed NBA player Ray Allen to give the performance of a lifetime as Jesus Shuttlesworth, one of the top high school basketball prospects in the country. Colleges are so eager to sign Jesus that the governor of New York briefly releases his estranged father, Jake Shuttlesworth (Denzel Washington), from prison just to convince Jesus to attend the governor's alma mater.

Read more