Peacock is set to premiere its new crime drama series, Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist, on September 5. The series is inspired by the popular iHeart true-crime podcast, which narrates the thrilling events surrounding a historic heist in Atlanta during Muhammad Ali’s 1970 comeback fight.
The series stars Kevin Hart as Chicken Man, a charismatic hustler who finds himself at the center of one of the most audacious heists in Atlanta’s history. After hosting an extravagant afterparty attended by the nation’s wealthiest gamblers, Chicken Man is suspected of orchestrating the robbery. Determined to clear his name, he faces his toughest challenge yet—convincing J.D. Hudson, played by Don Cheadle, a pioneering Black detective in the city’s newly desegregated police force, of his innocence.
Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist gives audiences a play-by-play of the heist itself but also shows how this event contributed to Atlanta’s transformation into the “Black Mecca.”
The upcoming series is the brainchild of creator Shaye Ogbonna, known for his work on The Chi and God’s Country. Hart, who also serves as an executive producer, described his character to Vanity Fair as a “dreamer.” He said, “A dream isn’t just a dream; a dream is real, and something others will later discover if you do it correctly. And Chicken Man is a dream.”
Samuel L. Jackson, Taraji P. Henson, Terrence Howard, Chloe Bailey, Lori Harvey, Dexter Darden, Marsha Stephanie Blake and Sinqua Walls all star in the upcoming series.
Check out the teaser below.
