Starz is going into business with 50 Cent.
The premium cable network on Friday handed out a series order for Power, an original scripted drama executive produced by Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson.
The Good Wife's Courtney Kemp Agboh created the drama and will executive produce and serve as showrunner on the CBS Television Studios series. Mark Canton (300) and Randall Emmett (End of Watch) will also executive produce the eight-episode drama. Power marks the latest collaboration between Canton and Emmett, who previously produced Escape Plan starring Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger together. The feature will bow in October. Power also reunites 50 Cent with Canton and Emmett, after he starred in the duo's The Escape Plan and Frozen Ground, the latter of which he produced.
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Power revolves around James "Ghost" St. Patrick, a wealthy New York City nightclub owner who caters to the city's elite. He wants to build an empire, turn the club into a Fortune 500 business, but there's just one problem: Ghost is living a double life. When he's not at the club, he's the kingpin of the most lucrative drug network in New York for a very high-level clientele. His marriage, family and business all become unknowingly threatened as he is tempted to leave his criminal life behind and become the rags-to-riches businessman he wants to be most of all.
"We are thrilled to add Power to our growing original programming lineup for 2014," Starz CEO Chris Albrecht said. "Curtis has a unique and specific vision for the series, lending it an authenticity and voice rarely seen. Courtney has created a rich world and characters not often explored in contemporary drama. There is a rawness and soul to the character of Ghost as he struggles to live between these two worlds that we believe will leave an indelible mark on the audience and stay with them after the credits roll."
The project comes as Starz continues to ramp up production on original series as it prepares to lose its portfolio of Disney films in 2016. Starz is scheduled to launch at least four scripted series in 2013, including the recently completed final season of Spartacus, season two of Jeffrey Dean Morgan's Magic City, freshman period drama Da Vinci's Demons -- which has been renewed for a second season -- and new limited series The White Queen with Janet McTeer.
"Starz has given our team an opportunity to explore a world of beauty, luxury, danger and death, all against the struggle of one man to define his nature and his soul," said Kemp Agboh, whose credits also include The Bernie Mac Show andEli Stone. "While the power and peril of Ghost's world are specific, we hope to address the truly universal questions we all face when we look in the mirror: who am I? Where am I going? Who do I want to become?"
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Added 50 Cent: “This is a passion project for me and I couldn’t be more thrilled to have found a home with Starz. I look forward to working with this incredibly talented team on making Power a hit show.”
Said EP Canton: "Courtney has crafted an incredible modern story from an idea we developed with Fifty and Randall Emmett. She’s without hesitation one of the best writers and storytellers that I’ve had the privilege to work with. I’ve had a long relationship with Chris Albrecht and Randall and I look forward to raising the bar together with him, his colleagues at Starz and our partners and CBS Studios. I know we are at the right time and right place with this powerful project."
Starz will retain global distribution and home entertainment rights to the series.
Kemp Agboh is repped by CAA and Felker Toczek. 50 Cent is with CAA and Stone Meyer.
Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit
