Muhammad Ali event series from Rege-Jean Page, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Willmott in works at Peacock
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Today marks the 52nd anniversary of the first fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. As a tribute to the legendary boxer, Peacock is developing an eight-part event series highlighting the eight most iconic fights of Ali's career, presented to audiences by 'Bridgerton' star Rege-Jean Page, 'The Shawshank Redemption' star Morgan Freeman and Academy Award winner Kevin Willmott.
The series is titled 'Excellence: 8 Fights' and will be based on Jonathan Eig's biography 'Ali: A Life' Freeman and Page will join Willmott, Lori McCreary and Emily Brown as executive producers on the series. The series, written by Kevin Willmott, will revolve around the 8 most iconic fights of the legendary boxer, while also depicting his life beyond boxing. It will take viewers on a journey through Ali's inner struggle with himself and illuminate the story of the most influential figures of the 20th century.
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A passion project for Morgan Freeman and Lori McCreary
Each episode of the series will highlight a fight from throughout the icon's career, but the whole idea of the series will revolve around how he felt and what his inner struggles were at the time of the fight. Although the series is highly anticipated, it was also a passion project for Freeman and producer Lori McCreary. The duo acquired Jonathan Eig's book as soon as it was published in 2017. This is not the first time the icon's life has been adapted into films and TV. Previously, director Michael Mann made the 2001 biopic 'Ali' starring Will Smith, who played Ali in the film and also received his first Oscar nomination for the role.
'Drama outside the ring'
The official synopsis of the series reads, "'Excellence: 8 Fights' will chronicle eight distinct and defining moments in the iconic life of Muhammad Ali. Each episode will be framed by one fight from Ali’s life, but the essence of the episode, what it’s really about, is the internal fight – the drama outside the ring – where we will explore the struggle going on in the heart and mind of one of the most consequential and controversial figures of the 20th century." From the many documentries and movies made on Muhammad Ali, 'The Last Round: Chuvalo vs Ali' (2003), 'The Trials of Muhammad Ali' (2013) which was also adapted into a 2013 TV movie 'Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight' are some of the most notable ones.
