50 Cent Expands “Power” Universe: “You Asked, I Answered”
50 Cent announced a new spin-off in the Power franchise on Wednesday (March 13). The G-Unit boss began developing a show titled Power Origins, which will follow younger versions of the popular characters Ghost and Tommy.
“You asked, I answered,” 50 Cent wrote on Instagram. “Young Ghost and Tommy coming your way. Power Origins now in development.”
Power fans rejoiced in the comments of 50 Cent’s post. Power Origins was revealed days after Lionsgate Television signed Gary Lennon, one of the Power franchise’s producers and showrunners, to a new deal in hopes of expanding the Power universe. STARZ CEO Jeff Hirsch admitted the network sought more spin-offs to replace hit shows at a Deutsche Bank media conference on Tuesday (March 12).
“When seasons go from one to two to three to four [seasons], three to four is where the cost really pops because most of the actors get bigger raises, and you have to really manage that,” Hirsch said. “So, you have to have in your portfolio of development shows that can actually replace shows as they get into later seasons.”
Hirsch cited Power’s spin-offs as the perfect example of finding ways to cut costs while maintaining the franchise’s audience.
“You look at the [Power] map and say, ‘Okay, if I take one of those characters out and spin one of those out, I can bring that on to replace the Power show at half the cost,’” Hirsch said. “Now I’m putting a lot of money right to the bottom line. And I’m really not losing anything in terms of acquisition costs and subscriber viewership, because we know what those demos want. And we know how to line those up. And so that’s really the core of getting to that 20 percent [margin] — turning that slate over with fresh content to drive the business.”
Power premiered on STARZ in 2014 and ran for six seasons. The show spawned three spin-offs, which remain on STARZ’s current lineup.