Justin Hartley’s Empire Expands: ‘Tracker’ Star Developing New ABC Thriller While Season 4 Heads to CBS This Fall
Justin Hartley has built one of the most enviable positions in broadcast television, and he shows no signs of slowing down. Since debuting after Super Bowl LVIII in early 2024, his CBS procedural ‘Tracker’ has dominated the ratings landscape in a way few shows ever manage, becoming the first new series to rank as the number one show on network television since ‘Survivor’ premiered back in 2000. That kind of momentum tends to open doors across the industry, and Hartley has been walking through all of them.
The actor’s production banner, ChangeUp Productions, has been quietly assembling an ambitious slate of projects under a multi-year first-look deal with 20th Television. Hartley credited that partnership when he said the studio had championed his projects and contributed to what he called the unparalleled success of ‘Tracker,’ speaking to Deadline when the renewed deal was announced last year.
The latest move from that expanding slate is a significant one. ABC is now in development on ‘A Forgotten Kill,’ a TV adaptation of Isabella Maldonado’s novel of the same name, with Hartley executive producing through his overall deal at 20th Television. Diana Son will write and executive produce the drama, alongside Ken Olin, who is also set to direct, and Maldonado herself. The project marks a notable pivot from the CBS world where ‘Tracker’ lives, placing Hartley’s fingerprints on a competing broadcast network’s development slate at the same time.
The show centers on ex-Army Ranger Dani Vega, a Nuyorican from the Lower East Side and FBI agent whose specialty is breaking codes and detecting patterns. As part of a task force, she is partnered with NYPD Detective Mark Flint, and their clashing styles give them an edge in solving crimes while exposing an undeniable chemistry. But Dani is also haunted by a family tragedy from her past that threatens to put both her career and her life at risk.
The source material comes with a loyal following. ‘A Forgotten Kill’ is the second novel in Maldonado’s FBI Special Agent Daniela Vega series, sitting between ‘A Killer’s Game’ and a later entry in the franchise. Maldonado herself is a former law enforcement commander, an FBI National Academy graduate, and the first Latina to reach the rank of captain in her police department, lending her fiction an authenticity that readers have responded to strongly. That grounded, procedural sensibility maps naturally onto the kind of broadcast drama that tends to thrive on CBS and ABC alike.
Meanwhile, ‘Tracker’ itself is in rude health heading into its next chapter. CBS renewed the show for a fourth season in January, announcing the pickup alongside a slate of other returning titles, a decision that was widely expected given the procedural’s standing as the number one show on broadcast television. Season 4 is set to premiere in fall 2026, and production is relocating from Vancouver to Los Angeles to take advantage of a substantial California tax credit.
For fans of Colter Shaw, the prospect of Hartley’s attention being split across two networks might raise an eyebrow. But given how methodically he has built ChangeUp Productions into a genuine force in broadcast drama, the more interesting question might be whether ‘A Forgotten Kill’ could become its own CBS-adjacent hit story on the rival network’s schedule. Are you excited to see what Hartley’s producing instincts can bring to Dani Vega’s world on ABC, or does the thought of him splitting focus while ‘Tracker’ heads into its biggest season yet give you pause?
