New 'Law & Order' International Spinoff in the Works
A new international edition of Law & Order is in the works, this time telling the stories of the criminal justice system in Canada. Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent was given a green light from Canadian broadcaster CityTV on Monday. The series will be produced by Lark Productions in collaboration with Universal Television, and Amy Cameron's Cameron Pictures.
The new series will follow the familiar format Dick Wolf created, with detectives investigating high-profile criminal cases in Canada's largest city. CityTV ordered 10 episodes, with production starting this fall in Toronto, with plans to air the show in the spring of 2024. The show will be written and produced by Canadians, with Canadian actors in front of the camera.
"The timeless appeal of the cases explored in the globally successful Law & Order franchise continues to draw in Citytv audiences week after week," Hayden Mindell, Senior Vice President of Television at Rogers Sports & Media, said in a statement. "We're thrilled to be in partnership with Lark Productions and Cameron Pictures Inc., to bring Canadian stories to this iconic format."
"Our team is excited for the unique opportunity to produce a distinctly Canadian version of Criminal Intent in partnership with Cameron Pictures," Erin Haskett, President and Executive Producer of Lark Productions, added. "We have been collaborating with Rogers Sports & Media since early last year and are thrilled to share the original vision of the adaptation with audiences."
The Toronto series' title suggests it will have more in common with Law & Order: Criminal Intent than other Law & Order shows. Criminal Intent mostly dispensed with the traditional L&O format and focused almost exclusively on police investigations. The show debuted on NBC in 2001, before moving to USA Network in 2008. Vincent D'Onofrio and Kathryn Erbe played the lead detectives for most of CI's run. It is now streaming on Peacock.
This is also not the first international edition of Law & Order, although none of them have been very successful. A French version, titled Paris enquêtes criminelles (Paris Criminal Investigations), aired between May 2007 and November 2008. Russian takes on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and CI aired between 2007 and 2011. Law & Order: UK lasted eight seasons between 2009 and 2014 on ITV.
There are three current Law & Order shows on NBC, all of which will return next season on Thursdays. The original Law & Order was revived for Season 21 last year, while SVU recently finished its 24th season. Law & Order: Organized Crime is the youngest series, and finished its third season. All three are streaming on Peacock.