THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER – The series based on Lisa Taddeo’s bestseller was developed at Showtime, who dropped the drama as part of Chris McCarthy’s efforts to lean more into the franchise model.
Showtime’s loss is Starz’s gain.

Lionsgate-backed premium cabler Starz is rescuing Three Women, the Shailene Woodley-fronted drama that Showtime dropped following Chris McCarthy’s arrival at the network. Sources say the series was shopped to multiple outlets, including HBO and Amazon, before landing at Starz.

Reps for Starz declined comment.

Paramount Global-owned Showtime originally snagged rights to the book in 2019 following a fierce bidding war. Showtime, then under David Nevins’ oversight, handed out a straight-to-series order to the drama which was eyed to premiere in 2022.

Following Nevins’ departure from Paramount Global, McCarthy was given oversight of Showtime and last week announced a rebranding of the network to Paramount+ With Showtime with an emphasis on franchises. Those plans were further revealed Monday with multiple Dexter and Billions offshoots in various stages of development.

Three Women becomes the latest castoff scripted series to land at Starz. The Jeff Hirsch-led cabler also recently picked up season two of the Lionsgate TV-produced comedy Minx after HBO Max reversed plans for a second season. The first and unaired second season, the latter of which was only days away from wrapping production, will both be available on Starz.

Woodley, DeWanda Wise, Betty Gilpin and Blair Underwood star in Three Women. Taddeo and Laura Eason (Showtime’s The Loudest Voice, House of Cards) executive produce with Kathy Ciric and Emmy Rossum. Louise Friedberg (Y: The Last Man, Borgen) will direct and exec produce the first two episodes. Production on the series has already been completed.

Three Women joins a scripted roster at Starz that also includes Outlander and its prequel, P-Valley, the Power franchise, Blindspotting, Heels, Hightown and the Party Down revival, among others.

Dumping already completed shows has become an increasingly popular yet depressing way for networks (like AMC) and streaming platforms (including HBO Max) alike to cut costs and take advantage of tax write-offs.