Paramount+ has today announced that EGOT-winning icon Viola Davis has boarded brand new thriller Ascent, created by Tony Award winner and three-time Oscar nominee John Logan (Skyfall, Gladiator, Michael, Penny Dreadful). Logan will serve as showrunner and executive producer alongside executive producers Michael Aguilar (Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, Kidding, The Departed), and Davis and Julius Tennon for JuVee Productions.
The series is described as a character-driven thriller set in the dangerous world of global corporate crisis and damage control. Davis will play elite corporate fixer Catriona Vail, who must weaponize the ruthless skills that have made her indispensable to billion-dollar clients when her estranged daughter is in danger.
Speaking of her casting Davis says “I am overwhelmingly excited about this journey with the great John Logan. 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 Aquilar, and Paramount. We are ready to create magic!”
“Viola Davis doesn’t just take on roles; she transforms them. Catriona Vail is an incredibly complex character and Viola is exactly the generational talent to bring her to life,” adds Jane Wiseman, Head of Originals for Paramount+. “With John Logan and Michael Aguilar behind the camera, Ascent is high-stakes television at its best.”
Produced by Paramount Television Studios, Ascent is slated to begin production in Los Angeles in 2027. The series will premiere globally exclusively on Paramount+.
