Ben Watkins will serve as showrunner and executive producer on the series that will see Jalen Best take on the role of Cassius Clay as he becomes Muhammad Ali.
Muhammad Ali has had plenty of movies detailing his prolific boxing career, and now we are getting an episodic series about his life.
Prime Video revealed during Essence Festival of Culture on Saturday that The Greatest, its Muhammad Ali limited series, will launch on the streamer on Wednesday, November 4.
Ben Watkins will serve as showrunner and executive producer on the series that will see Jalen Best take on the role of Cassius Clay as he becomes Muhammad Ali.
Joining Best will be Dana Gourrier, Amin Joseph, Kai Parham, Omari Hardwick as Muhammad Ali’s father, and Michael Ealy as Malcolm X.
Deadline reports that The Greatest is described as an “intimate exploration of the incomparable life of the boxing champion, humanitarian, and global icon.”
The limited series will also have Lonnie Ali, the widow of Muhammad Ali, attached as an executive producer, making it the first authorized scripted series about Ali’s life in and out of the ring.
Watkins’ Blue Monday Productions (Cross) will be joined by Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society (The Creed Franchise), so that means all of the boxing scenes should be on point cause Creed’s were out of this world.
Authentic Studios, Roc Nation, Polygram Entertainment, and Universal Music Group are also involved with the limited series.
As for the reaction to the show, the news has been relatively mixed, with some fans excited for the upcoming series, and others saying that Will Smith set the bar so high as the legendary boxer that no one will ever be able to top him.
“No cap after what will smith did nobody should be able to play Ali ever again,” one user wrote on X (formerly Twitter.)
Another post added, “Will Smith did such an amazing job in the early 2000s. We really don’t need this.”
Other reactions point to Ali’s story being told before and to a desire for another Black boxer to have his day. “Looks good but why keep doing biopics we already have??? Coulda did one for Joe Louis or Jack Johnson,” said another post.
Prime Video Drops Release Date For Muhammad Ali Limited Series, 'The Greatest' was originally published on cassiuslife.com
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