Michael B. Jordan is out here making BOSS moves.
The fine young actor has launched a production company and signed a multiyear first-look film and TV production deal with Skydance Media.
via THR:
Jordan has tapped Wynn Wygal to serve as vp at Outlier Productions. Wygal joins the company from Mad Chance Productions, the production arm behind American Sniper, where she served as director of development. During her time at Mad Chance, Wygal championed It’s What I Do, Queen of the Air and Wynne’s War and oversaw the English adaptation of Akira, among other projects.
Jordan has set his first TV project under the Skydance deal: Apollo Park. The scripted drama revolves around a young basketball player’s rapid rise to professional fame and the effects of his success on his family and community back in inner-city Detroit.
Eric Amadio, whose FX drama Snowfall was just picked up to series, co-created Apollo Park with Jordan. Amadio will pen the potential series and executive produce alongside Jordan, Evan Silverberg and Kenny Goodman as well as Skydance’s David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Marcy Ross.
“Michael is an incredibly gifted actor and storyteller whose proven track record on both the big and small screen together with his boundless ambitions make him an ideal partner for us at Skydance,” Skydance CEO Ellison said Wednesday in a statement. “We are so excited to team up with Michael and Eric on Apollo Park, a riveting sports drama about courage, perseverance and family.”
The film and TV pact comes as Jordan, 29, has spent much of his life in Hollywood. He launched his acting career in 1999 with episodes of The Sopranos before going on to star as Wallace on HBO’s critically acclaimed drama The Wire. In 2009, Jordan joined the cast of NBC’s cult favorite Friday Night Lights and reteamed with showrunner Jason Katims for the network’s Parenthood. On the big screen, his credits include Creed, Fantastic Four, Fruitvale Station and Chronicle, among others. Jordan will next be seen in Marvel’s Black Panther, due in 2018.
“I love telling true, modern stories and Apollo Park — an underdog tale about a very real and very heroic hustler who defies stereotypes and thrives against great odds — has long been a passion project of mine. Eric and I are excited to join forces with the incredible creative team at Skydance to share it with the world,” said Jordan, who grew up playing basketball for his high school team in Newark, N.J. “I’m also very eager to start this new chapter in my career by launching my production company and I am thrilled to have Wynn join my team.”
Jordan joins a roster of producers with overall deals at Skydance, including Marti Noxon (who is developingDietland for TV), among others. On the TV side, Skydance is behind Netflix’s Grace and Frankie as well as the upcoming Altered Carbon at Netflix, Spike’s Red Mars and Amazon’s Jack Ryan.
Jordan and Outlier are repped by WME, MGMT and Bloom Hergott; Amadio is with CAA, Management 360 and Bloom Hergott.
Apollo Park becomes the latest sports-themed scripted project in the works. It joins CBS’ football family comedy based on the life of Arizona Cardinals defensive end Calais Campbell and established series including Fox’s Pitch, Starz’s basketball-themed Survivor’s Remorse, HBO’s Ballers and DirecTV/The Audience Network’s Kingdom.
Go Michael!
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