Amazon MGM Studios has teamed up with Banijay Kids & Family to develop a live-action Totally Spies! series, and Will Ferrell is on board to executive produce it.
The new show concept will follow besties Clover, Alex and Sam as they balance soaking up their first year of college with saving the world as undercover spies. Amazon’s head of English series Rola Bauer greenlit the project and will oversee it, with Banijay Kids & Family’s CEO Benoît Di Sabatino joining Ferrell as an EP.
The original Totally Spies! animated series debuted in 2001 and now boasts more than 200 episodes and a prequel film. Its brand-new seventh season launched in France last month, and commissioning broadcasters Gulli and WBD EMEA have already ordered season eight.
Also available worldwide on Amazon Prime Video, the series has been translated into 60 languages to air in more than 200 territories, and it has three million social media followers.
It was these engagement numbers and well-established fanbase that galvanized Bauer to approach Di Sabatino about making a live-action series for Amazon. Will Ferrell’s Gloria Sanchez production banner got involved because its execs are fans of the original series, and they see the project as a vehicle for empowering female voices and storytellers, says president Jessica Elbaum.