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SYFY WIRE True Lies

'True Lies' TV series from James Cameron, McG and Burn Notice creator lands CBS pilot order

By Josh Weiss
True Lies

The True Lies television series that's been in the works for the better part of a decade is still moving forward, just not at Disney+ as was reported a year or so ago.

According to a new report from Deadline, the project — inspired by James Cameron's 1994 spy/action/comedy film — has moved over to CBS with an official pilot order. Cameron, Matt Nix (creator of Burn Notice), and McG (director of Terminator: Salvation) are all executive producing the show, which was originally ordered by Fox. In addition, Nix wrote the pilot and McG is attached to direct. The story revolves around a suburban wife who discovers that her seemingly normal computer consultant husband is, in reality, an international secret agent. Looking for more excitement, the wife joins her globe-trotting spouse in a mission to save the world...and their marriage.

Rae Sanchini, Mary Viola, Josh Levy, and Corey Marsh are executive producing as well.

In the '94 movie, the wife role of Helen Tasker was played by Halloween's Jamie Lee Curtis, who nabbed a Golden Globe win with her performance. Helen's husband, Harry, was portrayed by longtime Cameron collaborator, The Terminator's Arnold Schwarzenegger. Charlton Heston (Planet of the Apes), Grant Heslov (The Midnight Sky), Tom Arnold (Sons of Anarchy), Eliza Dushku (Wrong Turn), and Bill Paxton (Aliens) co-starred in the well-received feature that brought in almost $400 million at the global box office.

If you dig the genre, the family spy show concept could prove a popular one in the next TV season. Back in the fall, Skydance Television announced a father-daughter spy series starring Schwarzenegger himself and Monica Barbaro (Top Gun: Maverick). At the time, we speculated on whether the show (hailing from Scorpion creator Nick Santora) might actually be a stealth follow-up to True Lies — but that theory seems less likely in the wake of the CBS news than an actual new True Lies is in the works.