The One Chicago family has officially expanded once again. According to E! Online, NBC has officially ordered the fourth series in the Chicago franchise, set to be called Chicago Justice.
The announcement was made on Thursday, one day after Justice had its backdoor pilot in Chicago P.D.‘s episode, which had a ratings uptick. The episode had a 1.4 rating and was watched by 6.75 million viewers, according to TV by the Numbers.
While the backdoor pilot for Chicago Justice just aired, it’s not the first time that the lawyers for Chicago’s Cook County have been featured in the franchise. Back in January, during the crossover episodes between Chicago Fire, Chicago Med and Chicago P.D., the prosecutors were featured in the P.D. episode, where they were tasked with prosecuting a doctor who was giving false cancer diagnoses to patients.
According to Variety, Chicago Justice stars Philip Winchester, Carl Weathers, Nazneen Contractor, Joelle Carter and Ryan-James Hatanaka. The show will center around the prosecutors of the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office as they work to try cases to the best of their abilities, which won’t be easy given the corruption within the system.
This was previewed in Wednesday’s episode of Chicago P.D., where the attorneys investigated an officer-involved shooting that’s reminiscent of what’s been happening in the news these last few years.
Chicago Justice will be the fourth show within the Chicago franchise, including the original show, Chicago Fire, and its two spinoffs, Chicago P.D. and Chicago Med. All of the Chicago shows have been renewed for the next season.
The Chicago franchise, which is created by prolific producer Dick Wolf, isn’t going to be the only projects of Wolf’s on NBC next season. Law and Order: Special Victim’s Unit will be returning for its 18th season, making it currently the longest running non-animated show currently on the air.
Wolf will also have a new show, Law and Order: True Crime, which will also premiere on the network, giving Wolf six shows on the network, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The first season of the show will focus on the Menendez brothers.
Chicago Justice seems to be Wolf’s passion project, telling The Hollywood Reporter “Courtroom machinations are gladiatorial combat in suits and that’s endlessly fascinating to me.” He also goes on to say that Justice “is literally the fourth leg of the table” of the Chicago franchise.
As Wolf looks ahead to casting characters for his new show, he said any characters from the Law and Order universe are welcome to appear on the newest Chicago show.
And though Chicago Justice may be the fourth leg in the Chicago franchise, Wolf said he already has plans for a fifth Chicago show, though he’s not revealing any details on what the subject of the show could possibly be.
Wolf has a deal with Universal Television through 2020, so it’s possible there could be a fifth Chicago show on the air sometime before the deal expires.
Chicago Justice will be produced by Dick Wolf, Peter Jankowski, Matt Olmstead, Derek Haas, Michael Brandt and Arthur Forney. Universal Television and Wolf Entertainment will also be working on the series, just like the other shows in the Chicago franchise.