Follow Us on Google News
Samuel L. Jackson is set to star in the upcoming Peacock true crime limited series “Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist,” Variety has learned.
Peacock announced in December that it had greenlit a series starring and executive produced by Kevin Hart, along with Will Packer as another executive producer. The series is inspired by the iHeartPodcast “Fight Night,” which Packer also produced.
The series takes place in 1970 in Atlanta and follows “the legendary story of how a heist during Muhammad Ali’s epic 1970 comeback fight altered not just one man’s fate, but the destiny of a whole city.”
Jackson will play the role of Frank Moten, a notorious crime boss who was dubbed “the Black Godfather” by the New York press.
The series is created by Shaye Ogbonna, who also serves as co-showrunner with Jason Horwitch. They are joined by Hart, Bryan Smiley and Mike Stein from Hartbeat; Packer and Sabrina Wind from Will Packer Media; Conal Byrne, Will Pearson and Carrie Lieberman from iHeartPodcasts; and Jeff Keating and Lars Jacobson as executive producers. Craig Brewer, who worked with Jackson on the 2006 film “Black Snake Moan,” will direct the first two episodes. Tiffany Brown from Hartbeat and Kenny Burns from Studio 43 are co-executive producers.
This is the latest TV project for Jackson, who is mainly known for his film work. He recently starred in the Apple TV+ series “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey” in 2022 and the Marvel-Disney+ series “Secret Invasion” in 2023.
Jackson is one of the most acclaimed actors of his generation. He earned an Oscar nomination for his breakthrough role in Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction.” He has since collaborated with Tarantino on films such as “Jackie Brown,” “Django Unchained,” and “The Hateful Eight.” Jackson is also famous for his role as Nick Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Some of his other notable film roles are “Unbreakable” and its sequel “Glass,” several “Star Wars” films, “Shaft,” and “Snakes on a Plane.”