Are there trade press reports or interviews confirming Rob Reiner's involvement with The Spy and the Asset?

1. Public on the record: Reiner announced The Spy and the Asset in interviews

Rob Reiner himself said he was developing a TV project called The Spy and the Asset and described it as a multi‑episode examination of how the lives of Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump intersect; he disclosed this in interviews starting in 2020 and again in June 2021, saying the project would run roughly 10–13 episodes ^[2][1][3]. Deadline published a contemporaneous report summarizing Reiner’s June 2021 SiriusXM interview and noting the episode count and the working title ^[1].

2. Trade press confirmation: Deadline and trade summaries repeated his statements

Trade and entertainment outlets covered Reiner’s own comments: Deadline ran a direct report on the June 2021 interview noting the 10–13 episode scope and the title The Spy and the Asset ^[1]. Encyclopedic and biographical compendia — such as the Wikipedia page on Reiner and the list of unrealized projects — also record that Reiner publicly announced the series and that he was collaborating with writer Ward Parry ^[2][3].

3. Post‑2025 reporting repeated the project as part of his late career work

Obituaries and retrospectives following Reiner’s death in December 2025 reiterated that he had been developing The Spy and the Asset, presenting it as one of several late‑career projects alongside recent film and documentary work ^[4][3]. Fact‑check and news aggregators likewise note multiple past interviews where Reiner discussed the series ^[5][6].

4. What the sources show — and what they do not

Available sources show on‑the‑record interviews in which Reiner announced and described the project, and trade reporting (Deadline) covered those interviews ^[1][2]. Available sources do not mention any finished pilot, network attachment, production company financing, casting, or broadcast pickup for The Spy and the Asset; reporting records the project as “in development” or “being worked on” rather than produced or released ^[2][3][1].

5. Competing perspectives and the scope of the claim

There is no dispute in the provided reporting that Reiner said he was working on a project with that title and premise; fact‑check writeups treat the announcement as genuine and trace it to Reiner’s interviews ^[5][6]. Some social posts and later summaries tie the project into narratives about Reiner’s political activism or suggest motives for his scrutiny of Trump; however, mainstream trade coverage frames the matter as a creative project announcement rather than political evidence ^[1][4].

6. Why this matters for verification and for further reporting

A creator announcing a project in interviews is standard industry practice and is reliably reported by trade outlets; Deadline and encyclopedic entries document the announcement ^[1][2]. But industry announcements do not guarantee development beyond that stage: absence of reporting about a network order, production credits, or distribution deals means the project remained developmental in the public record ^[2][3]. For firm confirmation of production status one would need trade notices of a series order, casting notices, or credits — items not present in the available sources.

7. Bottom line

Rob Reiner publicly confirmed he was developing The Spy and the Asset and spoke about it in 2020–2021 interviews; trade press (Deadline) reported those statements and later obituaries and encyclopedic entries reiterate them ^[1][2][3]. Available sources do not report that the series advanced to production, found a home at a network or streamer, or released any pilot or episodes ^[2][3].