Paramount+ Announces Thrilling Mafia Spies to Premiere July 16

Paramount+ unveiled its new six-part docuseries, MAFIA SPIES. Directed by Tom Donahue and produced by CreativeChaos in collaboration with Danny Strong Productions and See It Now Studios, the series will make its debut on the platform on Tuesday, July 16 in the U.S. and Canada, and on Wednesday, July 17 in the UK, Australia, Latin America, Brazil, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. Artwork and a trailer for the series were also released. The series is distributed globally by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

MAFIA SPIES allows viewers to uncover real-world spies, gangsters, honeypots, and mistresses, revealing a covert conspiracy between the CIA and the Chicago mob to assassinate Fidel Castro during a pivotal moment in the Cold War. President Kennedy had made it clear that coexistence with Castro, with missiles just 90 miles from American soil, was not an option.

The series, based on the book “Mafia Spies: The Inside Story of the CIA, Gangsters, JFK, and Castro” by Thomas Maier (Masters of Sex), offers an action-packed and immersive experience. It presents first-person accounts from key players about the events unfolding in the United States and Cuba. With a heavy reliance on recently declassified material and high-quality cinematic recreations, the series traces a Cold War cat-and-mouse game from Vegas to Miami to Havana, pitting Washington’s power players against the 20th century’s most infamous gangsters. It explores the clandestine ties among the CIA, the mob, and Sinatra’s Rat Pack that continue to echo today.

The series delves into one of America’s most extraordinary espionage plots, featuring exclusive interviews in the U.S. and Cuba with expert historians and renowned journalists, such as Gerald Posner, Tim Weiner, Geoff Schumacher, Stephen Kinzer, Peter Kornbluh, J. Michael Niotta, Professor Boris Nerey Obregon, and Felix Rodriguez. The series also includes appearances by Sam Giancana’s daughter Antoinette, entertainer Betsy Duncan, and actor Robert Davi.

MAFIA SPIES is directed by Tom Donahue, who co-wrote the series with Ron Marasco. Executive producers and co-showrunners are Donahue and Ilan Arboleda, and Jessicya Materano serves as co-executive producer for CreativeChaos. Danny Strong and Mandy Safavi are executive producers for Danny Strong Productions. Matt Jackson and Joanne Lee serve as executive producer and co-executive producer, respectively, for Jackson Pictures. Allan Loeb is an executive producer. Susan Zirinsky, Juan ‘JC’ Acosta, Mike Holz, and Jordan Bogdonavage are executive producers for Paramount+.