Samuel L. Jackson to play notorious gangster in Kevin Hart’s Muhammad Ali series

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.

Here is what movie stars named in Epstein list have to say

Legal documents recently released in connection to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein mention several film stars, including Cate Blanchett, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Cameron Diaz. All three actors have vehemently denied any personal involvement with the disgraced billionaire financier, who had associations with royalty and celebrities. Their names appear only once in the extensive documents released so far, during a segment where a witness denies ever meeting the stars. The initial batch of court files, disclosed following a judge’s order in December, includes names of victims, friends, and associates of Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Many individuals on the list have

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.”