UNIVERSAL, WILL PACKER GET IN RING ON ‘FIGHT NIGHT’ ACTION COMEDY

Universal Pictures and producer Will Packer have teamed for Fight Night. The studio has preemptively optioned the life rights package for an action comedy that Lars Jacobson will write based on a true story about the most daring of heists. Fight Night is the story of Atlanta-based hustler Gordon “Chicken Man” Williams and Atlanta’s first black detective, JD Hudson. Set in 1970 on the eve of Muhammad Ali’s comeback fight in Atlanta, the film centers on a post-fight party thrown by Williams that was attended by the most dangerous gangsters in the country. They were all robbed at gunpoint of more than $1 million, making it to this day the largest heist in Georgia history. Pic has been a passion project for Jacobson and Jeff Keating, latter of whom is the longtime rights holder. Packer will produce with James Lopez through the Universal-based Will Packer Productions. Kenny Burns, who first brought the project to Packer’s attention, will serve as executive producer. Keating will co-produce.