A Muhammad Ali event series titled EXCELLENCE: 8 FIGHTS was developed by Peacock

Peacock is developing an eight-part scripted event series about legendary boxer Muhammad Ali and is titled Excellence: 8 fights. The series will be based on author Jonathan Eig’s definitive biography Ali: A lifetime.

The series was written by Kevin Willmott (BlackKklansman) and “tells eight distinct and defining moments in Ali’s iconic life. Each episode will be framed by one of his fights, but the essence of the episode, what it’s really about, is the internal fight – the drama outside the ring. It will explore the ongoing struggle in the heart and mind of one of the most significant and controversial figures of the 20th century.”

This has been a longtime passion project for the Revelations Entertainment production team and a priority for CBS Studios. The producers of the series include Morgan Freeman, Lori McCreary, Bridgerton alum Regé-Jean Page AND Emily Brown.

Below you will find the complete description of the book on which the series is based:

He was the wittiest, the cutest, the strongest, the bravest and, of course, the greatest (as he told us himself). Muhammad Ali was one of the most fantastic figures of the twentieth century and arguably the most famous man on the planet.

But until now it has never been the subject of a complete and unauthorized biography. Jonathan Eig, hailed by Ken Burns as one of America’s master storytellers, radically reshapes our understanding of the complicated man that was Ali. Eig had access to all the key people in Ali’s life, including his three surviving wives and his managers. He conducted more than 500 interviews and uncovered thousands of pages of unedited FBI and Justice Department files, as well as dozens of hours of newly discovered taped interviews from the 1960s. Collectively, they tell Ali’s story like never before: the story of a man flawed, uncertain and brave beyond belief.

“I am America,” he once declared. “I am the part you will not recognize. But get used to me: black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my. Get used to me.

Cassius Clay was born in racially segregated Louisville, Kentucky, the son of a sign painter and a housekeeper. He went on to become a heavyweight boxer with a dazzling mix of power and speed, a warrior for racial pride, a comedian, a preacher, a poet, a draft resister, an actor and a lover. Millions of people hated him when he changed his religion, changed his name and refused to fight in the Vietnam War. He fought his way back, winning hearts, but at a high price. Like many boxers, he stayed too long.

Jonathan Eig’s Ali reveals Ali in the complexity he deserves, shedding important new light on his politics, religion, personal life and neurological condition. Ali is a story about America, about race, about a brutal sport and about a brave man who shocked the world.

This is sure to be a great series and I can’t wait to see how it pans out and to watch it!

Source: Deadline