The newly independent Starz has placed its first series order after splitting off from Lionsgate.
The premium cable and streaming outlet has ordered Fightland, a drama set in the world of British boxing from executive producer Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. Damione Macedon and Raphael Jackson Jr. (Power, Genius: MLK/X) will serve as showrunners, writers and executive producers; Daniel Fajemisin-Duncan and Marlon Smith are also writers and EPs.
Starz formally split from its former parent company, Lionsgate, in May. Now without a studio partner, the company is looking to develop and produce IP that it owns and will continue to center programming aimed at (and made by) women and traditionally underrepresented audiences.
Fightland has been in development since 2022 at Starz and opened a writers room a few weeks before Thursday’s formal series order. It will center on “a disgraced, formerly incarcerated boxing champion who returns to London to seek vengeance against the crime family he thinks betrayed him,” according to the show’s logline. “With edge-of-seat action and populated by dangerous characters, this is a world of money and power never seen before.” Production is scheduled to start in the fall in London.
“Fightland marks my first internationally produced show through my G-Unit Film & Television. I am excited to bring that global energy to the screen,” Jackson said in a statement. “I anticipate this to be more successful than anything I’ve done before — boxing’s raw stakes are gonna take it to another level.”
Added Kathryn Busby, president original programming for Starz, “Set against the backdrop of the British boxing underground, this series promises to be the perfect combination of character and adrenaline. Fightland is the kind of unapologetically visceral, premium storytelling that Starz is known for, and we believe that each dramatic round of this compelling drama will leave fans wanting more.”
Jackson and Starz have a longstanding relationship, as he’s an executive producer of the Power franchise, BMF and the unscripted The BMF Documentary: Blowing Money Fast, which was renewed for a second season earlier this week.
G-Unit Film & Television and Expanded Media are producing the series. Jackson will executive produce with Macedon, Jackson, Fajemisin-Duncan, Smith, and Expanded Media’s Francis Hopkinson and Kate Leadbetter