Viola Davis' New Series Revealed: Ascent from Paramount+

A crisis will arise that Catriona Vail cannot buy her way out of, despite covering up others' scandals, saving companies from collapse, and solving every problem for her billion-dollar clients.

Paramount+ has ordered the thriller series Ascent directly without waiting for a pilot episode. Viola Davis will not only star in the lead role but will also serve as an executive producer alongside her husband Julius Tennon under JuVee Productions.

Using Professional Methods for Her Family

Ascent takes place in the closed world of global corporate crises and reputation management. Catriona Vail is an elite consultant called upon when her clients, whose fortunes are measured in billions, get into trouble.

For the first time, she will have to use the ruthless methods she developed in corporate life for her own family when her daughter, whom she has been estranged from for years, is put in danger. The announced storyline of the series does not yet reveal why Catriona has been estranged from her daughter or what threat she will face.

John Logan at the Helm

Ascent is being developed by John Logan, the screenwriter of Skyfall and Gladiator, and the creator of Penny Dreadful. Logan will serve as both the showrunner and an executive producer.

Michael Aguilar, who worked on Penny Dreadful: City of Angels and The Departed, is also part of the executive producer team. The production brings together Paramount Television Studios with Davis and Tennon's JuVee Productions.

Viola Davis Returns to a Regular Series Lead

Ascent will place Davis at the center of a regular television series for the first time since How to Get Away with Murder ended in 2020.

In recent years, the actress has appeared in films like The Woman King and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. In this new project, she will portray a character who derives her power not from the courtroom but from the crises behind closed doors of corporations, unlike her role as law professor Annalise Keating.

Filming Set to Begin in 2027 in Los Angeles

Production for Ascent is planned to start in 2027 at the Paramount studios in Los Angeles. The number of episodes, other cast members, and the Paramount+ release date have not yet been announced.

The project's first major draw is already clear: Viola Davis will play a woman who has built her career on the disasters of others and must confront her own methods in her most personal crisis, rather than a superhero saving the world this time.