‘NCIS: Hawaii’ appears bound for the isles

Another CBS crime drama may be headed for the islands, with “NCIS: Hawaii” said to be in development.

A Hawaii spinoff of the popular series based on the Naval Criminal Investigative Service is in the works, but hasn’t been officially greenlit, People.com reported.

CBS declined comment Wednesday.

“NCIS” remains a cornerstone of the CBS brand, with the original version starring Mark Harmon still one of the most-watched shows on television, even in its 18th season, according to Variety.

“Should ‘NCIS: Hawaii’ go to series, which seems inevitable, it would also be the latest CBS series to be set in Hawaii,” the entertainment publication said.

The finale of “Hawaii Five-0” aired April 3 on CBS after a 10-season run. “Magnum P.I.,” also a CBS product, was renewed for a third season last May. Variety said season 3 of the CBS reality show “Love Island” is also filming in Hawaii.

Hollywood Reporter said the potential new NCIS series would likely shoot in Hawaii, “where production is facing an easier path forward during the pandemic. ‘NCIS: Hawaii’ is meeting with potential pilot directors and has begun staffing a writers room.”

NCIS was launched in 2003, with spinoffs “NCIS: Los Angeles” debuting in 2009 and “NCIS: New Orleans” in 2014, People.com said.

On its website, CBS said that NCIS “is more than just an action drama. With liberal doses of humor, it’s a show that focuses on the sometimes complex and always amusing dynamics of a team forced to work together in high-stress situations.”

The real NCIS has a field office at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. The TV version filmed at Hickam and elsewhere around Oahu in a CBS crossover with “Hawaii Five-0” in 2012.

Actors Chris O’Donnell and LL Cool J of “NCIS: Los Angeles” and Scott Caan of “Hawaii Five-0” were in a scene at Hickam with C-17 cargo aircraft and Air Force and Hawaii National Guard troops in the background as extras. The two-part “Touch of Death” crossover episodes aired on April 30 and May 1 in 2012.

Hawaii State Film Commissioner Donne Dawson said on the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s Spotlight Hawaii on Nov. 6 that the local film industry was “in a much better place” than six or seven months before as COVID-19 took its toll on business.

Productions were starting to come back in Hawaii, she said.

“Things are looking bright, and I think that it is due to the film industry, the studios, the labor unions that have been working diligently with medical experts all over the country to determine how to best reopen the film industry,” she said.

Dawson said since 2006, when a film production tax credit was passed, there has been a quadrupling in the size of the film industry in Hawaii. The refundable credit equals 20% of qualified production costs incurred on Oahu, and 25% on the neighbor islands, according to the Hawaii Film Office.

Direct spending related to the industry rose from about $100 million a year to a record of nearly $500 million in 2018, with nearly 5,000 jobs created, Dawson said.

Still, Screen Daily recently reported that COVID-19 “continues to cause multiple cancellations, postponements and changes to film industry schedules around the globe.”

But Georja Skinner, chief officer of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism’s Creative Industries Division, also is optimistic about Hawaii’s film future.

“The local film industry is one of the bright spots of the recovery, and seeing shows like ‘Magnum P.I.’ and actually a landmark year in 2021 — we will have three television series” and possibly another series, Skinner told KHON 2 in mid-January.