Don Cheadle is the latest star to join Peacock’s true crime limited series, Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist. Ordered to series in December, the show is based on the Will Packer-produced podcast chronicling an armed robbery during Muhammad Ali’s 1970 comeback fight in Atlanta, portrayed by Dexter Darden.
He joins previously cast Kevin Hart, Samuel L. Jackson, Terrence Howard, Taraji P. Henson, Dexter Darden, and Myles Bullock.
The Atlanta-set series, created by Shaye Ogbonna, explores the night of Ali’s victory over Jerry Quarry, a significant moment following Ali’s ban from boxing for refusing military draft entry. The after-party turned into one of the largest armed robberies in U.S. history.
Cheadle will portray JD Hudson, one of Atlanta’s first Black detectives assigned to Ali’s security detail and the robbery.
In the series, Darden will portray the late, great boxer Muhammad Ali, and Henson will play Vivian Thomas, Chicken Man’s (Hart) mistress, described as “a savvy businesswoman.”
Howard will play the role of Richard “Cadillac” Wheeler, a series regular and a gangster associated with the Council of 12. Jackson portrays Frank Moten, known as “the Black Godfather,” and Hart will star as Chicken Man, described as “a hustler trying to level up.”
Ogbonna and Jason Horwitch will serve as showrunners, unraveling the stories of a hustler and an Atlanta detective, one of the city’s first Black police officers. The series aims to shed light on Atlanta’s identity as “the Black Mecca.”
Executive producers include Bryan Smiley, Mike Stein, Will Packer, Sabrina Wind, Conal Byrne, Will Pearson, Carrie Lieberman, Jeff Keating, and Lars Jacobson. Craig Brewer, director of “Dolemite Is My Name,” is set to direct the first two episodes, with Tiffany Brown and Kenny Burns co-executive producing.
The project reunites frequent collaborators Henson and Howard, who starred in Empire and Hustle and Flow together. It also relinks them with Craig Brewer, who will direct and executive produce the first two episodes of the series. The pair previously worked with Brewer on Hustle & Flow and Empire.
The project also reunites Taraji P Henson and Kevin Hart, who worked on the ‘Think Like a Man” franchise together.