Kevin Hart Takes a Dramatic Turn in New Crime Series Fight Night: "Never Been More Excited"
The limited series, starring Kevin Hart, Taraji P. Henson, Don Cheadle, Samuel L. Jackson, and Terrence Howard, will premiere on the streamer on September 5.
Get ready to take a trip back to Atlanta circa 1970.
The upcoming limited series Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist is set to premiere on Peacock Sept. 5, 2024. Inspired by one of the largest armed robberies in the country's history, the show is about how Atlanta was transformed into the "Black Mecca" and has a stacked cast that includes Kevin Hart, Taraji P. Henson, Terrence Howard, Don Cheadle, Chloe Bailey, and Samuel L. Jackson.
"I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited about something in my life," Hart told Vanity Fair of the project, for which he serves as executive producer.
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What is Fight Night?
Based on the iHeart podcast of the same name, the series has been years in the making and is a passion project for Hart, who originally intended to remake the 1974 comedy Uptown Saturday Night alongside actor Chadwick Boseman. However, when Boseman died of colon cancer in 2020, Hart gave up on the project — until executive producer Will Packer came to him with the idea of telling the story of the robbery that kicks off in Uptown Saturday Night.
"I said that the only way I would do it is if we could turn it into a drama,” Hart explained to VF. “That way I didn’t feel like I was doing what Chadwick and I were going to do. It was something different."
After Henson, Cheadle, Howard, and Jackson were cast, the team began to focus on the finer details that help the series come alive.
"I want people to come out of this feeling like they got an authentic slice of what life was like for Black Americans living in Atlanta in the ’70s," Packer explained to the outlet.
Packer was aided in his mission by Jackson, who lived in the area at the time of the heist and was more than willing to offer his expertise.
"We had a historian on set who just happens to be one of the greatest actors who ever walked the planet," joked executive producer and creator Shaye Ogbonna.
About Kevin Hart's "Chicken Man"
At the center of Fight Night is Hart's character Gordon "Chicken Man" Williams, who is accused of orchestrating the brazen robbery.
"Chicken Man is hellbent on clearing his name but must convince his old adversary, J.D. Hudson (Don Cheadle), one of the first Black detectives in the city’s desegregated police force, who is tasked with bringing those responsible to justice," per a press release.
This role required Hart to take on a more serious persona than fans are used to.
"I told him in the beginning of his career, ‘We know you’re funny, man; I want to see you do that drama,’” remembered Henson. "I still think he has another layer left that we haven’t seen yet."
When does Fight Night premiere?
Come Sept. 5, 2024, viewers can see Hart play Chicken Man in the Peacock limited series. Until then, catch a glimpse of Hart and the rest of the stars in the teaser above!
