Cher Comes Home: ‘Clueless’ Sequel Among Nine California Tax Credit Recipients

Nine television productions, including a long-rumored Clueless sequel series starring Alicia Silverstone, have been awarded California Film & Television Tax Credits under Program 4.0 Year 2.

Governor Gavin Newsom’s office announced the awards on August 10, 2026. The projects are expected to generate $608 million in direct in-state spending and more than 1,000 filming days across California.

The sequel, produced by CBS Studios for Paramount+, received an estimated $16.3 million credit. Silverstone will reprise her role as Cher Horowitz, the fashion-obsessed Beverly Hills teenager she made iconic in Amy Heckerling’s 1995 film.

I’m so grateful that ‘Clueless’ gets to tell Cher’s next chapter in the city where her story began. Los Angeles has been through so much over the past several years, but the city is resilient. You simply can’t recreate this city anywhere else, and I’m excited to bring Cher home.

Silverstone framed the project as a homecoming for the character.

The largest credit of the round — $45.1 million — went to an untitled scripted series from Disney Entertainment Television. It is slated to film 142 days in California, most of them in Los Angeles.

Paramount Television Studios and CBS Studios collectively received $37.3 million across their awarded projects. This total is anchored by the Viola Davis-led Ascent at $21 million.

Tax Credit Awards Breakdown

Most of the nine shows are in their first season. Universal Television’s Newlyweds, starring Jamie Lee Curtis alongside Téa Leoni and Tim Daly, will film 26 days in Los Angeles.

Universal’s The Rockford Files reboot, headlined by David Boreanaz, is a revival of the late-1970s private-eye procedural that originated on NBC. Season two of Sony’s S.W.A.T. Exiles also made the list.

The Netflix animated project, awarded $1.2 million, is among the first animated series to qualify for the program after that category’s recent eligibility expansion.

Program 4.0 and Production Incentives

The awards are the second wave under California’s expanded Film and Television Tax Credit Program. The program broadened eligibility and boosted subsidy levels to stem the flow of productions to Georgia, New York, and other incentive-heavy states.

The first year of Program 4.0 comprised 170 projects and $6.6 billion in direct production spending. The state reported an 82% jump in application volume over the prior year.

California Film Commission Director Colleen Bell said the latest round reflects the state’s continued draw for legacy IP.

Year two of Program 4.0 is off to a phenomenal start, proving that California remains the undeniable home for premium television.

Bell added that beloved stories like The Rockford Files and Clueless can only be filmed in California, where they belong.

Newsom echoed the economic framing, citing the program’s role in generating jobs and “fair wages” alongside billions in activity. In total, the nine projects are expected to employ 3,000 cast and crew members and 25,000 background actors.

Two of the awarded series may also carry weight in the ongoing Paramount-Warner Bros. merger dynamics. The California Film Commission announcement did not specify which productions or how their tax-credit status might affect deal terms.

The overlap underscores how state-level incentives and corporate consolidation are increasingly intertwined in decisions about where major television bets are filmed.

Sources

• Latimes