Ice Cube (one of the writers/performers of Public Enemy‘s 1991 song “Burn Hollywood Burn”) is continuing to light up Hollywood through films and television. With his latest venture, he is linking up with LeBron James to create a pilot basketball drama based on the basketball star’s high school years.
Cube and LeBron will serve as co-creators and executive producers of the yet-to-be named TV pilot that is set to air on ABC this summer. According to ESPN Mag, the series is said to be influenced by Entourage and Friday Night Lightsand will follow an inner-city 15 year-old prep star who is transplanted to a small town school and forced to come of age while dealing with media pressure, unscrupulous moneymen and the jealousy of his peers. It is expected to begin production in the spring.
“It’s a grounded character study of teenage life in small town America, but it’s also an exploration of the American Dream and the wish-fulfillment aspect of what his life has become,” Matt Alvarez, President of CubeVision, told the magazine. “As a teenager, LeBron was dubbed as one of the great ones. Dropping an album as a kid with NWA, Cube could relate to that. They both know what it’s like to have success at a young age, and dealing with everything that comes with those expectations.”
A show like this will be great for network television, as there hasn’t been a drama that revolved around the lives of African Americans on network TV (not cable) since… I really don’t remember. Wait, does 2000′s City of Angels count? Well, let’s hope this pilot proves to be a winner with ABC and we see it on the air in in fall 2009!!
