“To be able to honor Muhammad Ali and elaborate on his legacy is something I’m really excited about,” said Jordan.
By NewsOne Staff
(Source NewsOne):
Mogul Jay-Z and actor Michael B. Jordan are teaming up to bring the story of a sports icon to the small screen. According to Deadline, the two are working on a television series about the life and legacy of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali.
The collaborative project is being executive produced by Jordan’s Outlier Society production company and Jay-Z’s Roc Nation for Amazon Studios. It is the first project under a production deal that Jordan inked with the television and film distributor. Although there are limited details surrounding the project, Muhammad Ali’s estate will reportedly be involved in the creation of the series. The project will be penned by Josh Wakely.
Jordan says he’s excited to team up with Roc Nation and Amazon Studios to bring a new angle of Ali’s storied career to the forefront. “It’s an incredible honor and I bring tons of respect to it,” he said in a statement, according to the news outlet. “It’s a healthy weight to carry, to be able to tell the story of Muhammad Ali. It’s a project where we’ve partnered with the estate and we’ll be able to tell this story with no red tape. I’m really excited about it, as a boxing enthusiast and since this is the world I’ve been living in the past five or six years with the Creed franchise. To be able to honor Muhammad Ali and elaborate on his legacy is something I’m really excited about.”
This isn’t Jordan’s first time in the producer chair, his credits include the film Just Mercy, the Netflix series Raising Dion, the television show David Makes Man and several other projects. News about the series comes after the release of Regina King’s film One Night in Miami which chronicled a fictional conversation between Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Jim Brown and Sam Cooke as the men gathered to celebrate Ali’s win against Sonny Liston on February 25, 1964. The movie is centered on the fight against racial injustice during the civil rights movement.
