LeBron James Producing Muhammad Ali Documentary
LeBron James Producing Muhammad Ali Documentary
Lebron James and Maverick Carter’s Spring Hill Entertainment have landed their first feature film. The upcoming multipart untitled Muhammad Ali doc will be directed by Antoine Fuqua (“Training Day”, “The Magnificent Seven”) for HBO.
Production is currently underway and will combine “archival footage and recreations, along with never-before-seen photos and footage from private collections of the Ali family and others”. James stated,
It’s tough to put into words how much it means to me to be a part of this project honoring the legacy and telling the extremely important story of the great Muhammad Ali. He transcended sports and used his platform to empower people, which paved the way for all athletes and people of every race and gender that came after him, myself included. It’s important that his story continues for generations to come, and it’s an honor for SpringHill Entertainment and me to be a part of this.
The documentary reportedly is “being produced with the full participation of the Ali family estate.” Ali passed away earlier this year, after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. Ali’s widow, Lonnie explained,
[the doc] “will have national and global appeal.”
Adding,
Without a doubt. Muhammad’s life journey provides simple yet extraordinary lessons for all of us, with perhaps the most important one being, to see and embrace the humanity in all people.
As we reported, this has been a busy year off the court of James. Last month, his production company sold the Thankless to CBS, a comedy centering on a group of ambitious assistants who pursue their dreams at a sports agency in Chicago.
He also sold a currently untitled sports medicine drama to NBC in addition to There Goes The Neighborhood, a family-based comedy. This summer, Survivors Remorse starring Jesse T. Usher, Tichina Arnold, Tenyonah Paris, Ronreaco Lee and Erica Ash was renewed for a fourth season on Starz.
He is also producing an upcoming trivia game show titled, The Wall, hosted by Talking Dead’s Chris Hardwick. Over the summer, Lebron appeared on his first reality TV series, Cleveland Hustles, for CNBC. Set in Cleveland, James and business partner Maverick Carter gave four aspiring local entrepreneurs a chance to realize their dreams while helping revitalize a neighborhood. Lebron will also appear in “Space Jam 2.”