Dwayne Johnson has built a multi-million-dollar Hollywood empire on a very specific type of cinematic escapism. As both a leading man and a prolific producer through Seven Bucks Productions, his name is synonymous with larger-than-life blockbusters designed for the biggest screens possible. However, over the past decade, Johnson has shifted from anchoring juggernaut franchises like Jumanji and Fast & Furious to shaping them behind the lens. For his next project, he is trading stunts and spectacle for authentic grit, focusing on a fiercely dedicated realm of public service that operates below the surface of everyday life. The shift toward high-stakes, real-world grit is currently crystallizing in his newest television venture, Dive, a crime thriller in development at ABC in partnership with 20th Television and Johnson’s and Dany Garcia’s Seven Bucks Productions. Masterminded by acclaimed Jack Ryan and Halo showrunner Steven Kane, the series is set to shake up the standard police procedural formula by journeying into the murky, unforgiving depths of New Orleans’ waters. According to Deadline, the show will follow an elite team of police divers and investigators tasked with solving crimes “that begin where the surface ends.”

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Bringing Kane onto the project highlights the network’s ambitions for the series. As a veteran writer and producer, Kane is renowned for spearheading high-stakes, tactically grounded dramas, having served as showrunner for both Paramount+’s Halo and the final season of Prime Video’s Jack Ryan. His deep pedigree in investigative television also includes writing for massive procedural staples like NCIS, The Closer, and Without a Trace, putting him in a perfect position to bring Dive’s underwater drama to life. In fact, he already envisions a much grander scale for the property, as he quietly referenced the show at a recent TV event in Europe, saying he told ABC commissioners during the pitch: “If this is successful, it could be franchised.” Expanding into a broader television franchise aligns with the current programming strategy at ABC and its parent company, Disney. Network television heavily relies on long-running, case-driven procedurals that keep viewers tuning in week after week. By blending the comfort of the “crime-of-the-week” format with an entirely fresh, visually unique, and tactically intense underwater setting, the network is setting up Dive to potentially follow in the lucrative footsteps of massive multi-series hits like 9-1-1 or The Rookie.

Pulling off a series centered on underwater crime scenes may prove to be a cost-heavy challenge. However, this is exactly where Seven Bucks excels. Having spent years managing massive action logistics behind global cinematic hits, Johnson’s production company possesses the exact operational blueprint needed to handle the grueling physical and technical demands of a show filmed largely underwater – and it seems that, with Dive, they may be laying the groundwork for a highly ambitious television ecosystem.