The Rookie Spinoff Casts First Star After Major Production Update

The Rookie Spinoff Casts First Star After Major Production Update John Nolan (Nathan Fillion) in uniform and surrounded by other cops in The Rookie By  Matthew Rudoy Published 46 minutes ago Matthew Rudoy is one of ScreenRant's Movie & TV News Editors. He covers the latest in movie & TV news, with a focus on major franchises like Star Wars, The Boys, and Game of Thrones. He wrote lists for ScreenRant from 2017-2022, became a news writer in 2023, a senior staff writer in 2024, and an editor in 2025.  Sign in to your ScreenRant account Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap This article covers a developing story. Continue to check back with us as we will be adding more information as it becomes available.

The Rookie's upcoming spinoff is officially happening at ABC after receiving a pilot order and revealing its lead star. Created by Alexi Hawley, The Rookie is a police procedural show that has been a major hit for the network. The spinoff, which is also created by Hawley, is titled The Rookie: North.

ABC has now announced that it has picked up The Rookie: North's pilot episode, with Running Point and All Her Fault star Jay Ellis cast in the main role. Along with being the spinoff's creator, Hawley is also the director, writer, and an executive producer of the pilot episode. Original series star Nathan Fillion will be another executive producer, and Ellis is also attached to produce.

The Rookie: North's story is similar to the main series, with Ellis playing Alex Holland, who joins his local police force and is the oldest rookie among them. Check out the official logline for the series below:

Alex Holland (Ellis) believed his mid-life wasn’t worthy of a crisis. But after a violent home invasion ignites a dormant purpose, Alex battles a lifetime of failed commitments by joining the Pierce County Police Department as its oldest rookie. Policing from the urban coast to the rural forest where backup isn’t just 5-minutes away, Alex must prove to his skeptical training officer, his fellow rookies, and himself, that he’s finally found something worthy of the fight.

Finalizing Ellis' deal reportedly came with some scheduling challenges due to the steadily expanding number of projects that he stars in. Along with a recurring role in Running Point season 2, he will be a series regular for the Hulu comedy show Not Suitable for Work. The closing deal ensures that if The Rookie: North pilot is followed by a full series order, he will be able to do the spinoff and the Hulu comedy.

A full series order would also make this the second spinoff in the police procedural franchise, following The Rookie: Feds being canceled after one season in 2023. The Rookie: Feds was co-created by Hawley and starred Niecy Nash-Betts and Frankie Faison.

More to come...

405 9.2/10 6/10

The Rookie

10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Follow Followed TV-14 Crime Drama Comedy Release Date October 16, 2018 Network ABC Showrunner Alexi Hawley Directors Tori Garrett, Chi-Yoon Chung, Michael Goi, Sylvain White, Lisa Demaine, Lanre Olabisi, Bill Johnson, David McWhirter, Liz Friedlander, Daniel Willis, Toa Fraser, Anne Renton, Jon Huertas, Cherie Nowlan, TK Shom, Rob Seidenglanz, Valerie Weiss, Barbara Brown, Charissa Sanjarernsuithikul, SJ Main Muñoz, Nelson McCormick, Marcus Stokes, Adam Davidson, Anna Mastro Writers Corey Miller, Bill Rinier, Zoe Cheng, Mary Trahan, Ally Seibert, Liz Alper, Nick Hurwitz, Racheal Seymour, Madeleine Coghlan, David Radcliff 7 Images Melissa O'Neil as Lucy Chen and Nathan Fillion as John Nolan in The Rookie season 4ABC via MovieStillsDBNathan Fillion as John Nolan in an episode of The RookieMike Taing / ©ABC/Disney / Courtesy Everett CollectionThe Rookie CastABC (via MovieStillsDB)Melissa O'Neil as Lucy Chen pointing at something with Eric Winter as Tim Bradford by her side in The Rookie season 1 episode GreenlightTitus Makin Jr as Jackson West, Melissa O'Neil as Lucy Chen, and Nathan Fillion as John Nolan in The Rookie season 1, episode 16Jackson West in The Rookie season 3, episode 7Nathan Fillion as John Nolan in The Rookie season 7, episode 2Close

Cast

See All

• Nathan Fillion John Nolan
• Melissa O'Neil Lucy Chen

Genres Crime, Drama, Comedy Creator(s) Alexi Hawley Powered by Expand Collapse This article covers a developing story. Continue to check back with us as we will be adding more information as it becomes available.

• The Rookie

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