HBO is developing a six-part series about boxing legend Jack Johnson entitled Unruly, and two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali has landed the role.
The project will be based on the PBS documentary Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson. Over the years Mahershala has been very vocal about wanting to play this role and it looks like his dream has come true.
According to Deadline, Unruly is described as an unapologetically Black, no-holds-barred telling of Jack Johnson (Ali), the world’s first Black Heavyweight Boxing Champion. This bold exploration depicts the champion’s rise to athletic greatness and the costs he paid for his skin and defiance, which created a blueprint for Black resistance in every justice movement for generations to come.
Should be a good one!
