[Editor’s note: The following contains some spoilers for Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist.]

The Big Picture

The Peacock TV series ‘Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist’ is based on the true-crime podcast depicting the 1970 Atlanta robbery following Muhammad Ali’s comeback fight.
Samuel L. Jackson discusses his familiarity with the real events, the impeccable production design, and reuniting with director Craig Brewer.
Jackson reveals details about his current projects and the uncertainties of the film industry.

The Peacock original series Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist, based on the true-crime podcast, tells the real-life tale of an armed robbery in Atlanta on the night of Muhammad Ali’s comeback fight in 1970. Gordon “Chicken Man” Williams (Kevin Hart) hosts an afterparty to celebrate alongside a guest list of the very wealthy but finds himself stuck between gangsters and robbers as the criminal underworld makes brazen moves. And when Frank Moten (Samuel L. Jackson), one of the most powerful Black gangsters who happens to be in town for the fight, ends up ensnared in the evening’s events, he decides to hunt down who’s responsible for the robbery.

During this one-on-one interview with Collider, Jackson talked about having been familiar with these real-life events in Atlanta, what made this story interesting enough to adapt, reuniting with Blake Snake Moan director Craig Brewer, the impeccable production design, and co-star Terrence Howard’s hair. He also revealed why he doesn’t know what he’s shooting next.

Samuel L. Jackson Wanted to Keep It Real For the Factual Tale of ‘Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist’

Collider: Because you were familiar with the real-life events in this story, were you immediately sold on what the series would be, or are you someone that typically has a lot of questions before you sign onto something?

SAMUEL L. JACKSON: Oh, I asked a lot of questions before I jumped into it, when they called. I was talking to the writers and everybody else about, “What is it you’re trying to do? What do you intend to portray here? How are we filling these gaps? What are the realities of what you’re gonna do? This is who you need to talk to and this is who you need to see.” There are still people that are around that know what happened and did it, so you can get some information from them. By the time I signed on, I was pretty sold that we were gonna do something that was entertaining, built around a factual event.

Since this was something that you were aware of, had you ever thought, over the years, that this would be a story that would make a great movie or TV show, or were you surprised that someone wanted to tackle this because so many layers had to come together?

JACKSON: Over time, you find that people are interested in different things. There are so many people that do podcasts now, so when I heard that this came from a podcast, I was like, “Oh, people just sitting around talking about things, okay.” This was an interesting event, and it was the talk of the town when it happened. It did have its own life and mythology around it, so I could see somebody doing it, but I hadn’t given it any thought.

What do you think makes this such an interesting story? What aspect of it stands out most to you, or surprised you, or that you thought was particularly interesting?

JACKSON: Historically, the event itself – the Ali fight and him getting out of prison and having his first fight in Atlanta. The fact that the city was vibrant, there was a percolation of the population in Atlanta that knew that something big was about to happen in this particular area. It hadn’t happened already. That wasn’t a huge metropolis in the South. The South was stuck in a thing, but Atlanta seemed to be that thing where something under it was about to erupt. A smart person or a person with business acumen could see that if they went there, they were gonna hit a goldmine.

‘Fight Night’ Reunited Samuel L. Jackson With ‘Black Snake Moan’ Director Craig Brewer
Image via Peacock

Craig Brewer, who I’ve been a fan of since Hustle and Flow, directed the first two and last two episodes of this, so he really got to establish a very clear look to it all. What did you like about the kind of director he is and what he brought to this?

JACKSON: I did Black Snake Moan with him. Craig has a Southern mentality. He knows how to take a story about the South and create something that’s universal, to bring a bunch of different ideas together with an excitement that coalesces around an event. He’s a smart director. He’s not as efficient as he used to be. Film makes a different kind of director from these new directors that don’t understand how much a movie costs because they never had to send a film out to go to the lab or even pick the ones they want. They just keep shooting until it’s over and the chip runs out. But Craig is a smart guy. He’s smart enough to know that if you hire the right actors and put them in the right place, they can do things that he doesn’t have to tell them to do. Sometimes that’s his strength. He allows us to go, but he also sees aspects of a story on the page and he can maneuver you into a space that enhances what’s already there.

The design of this series is impeccable, from the costumes to the hair and makeup to the sets. What most impressed you about the level of detail of this production, especially when it came to working alongside Terrence Howard’s hair?

JACKSON: The Farrah Fawcett look? Everybody loves Terrence’s hair. It’s a story all its own. To be able to walk into places and look at the set and the detail of the set puts you in a mindset that allows you to go back to that place or be in that particular place, even for the young actors that had no idea what it was. It just allows you to create something that’s very different than something that’s modern. I walked through [wardrobe] a lot, and I’d go, “Can I have that coat?” But nothing.

Samuel L. Jackson is Unusually Unsure of What His Next Project Will Be
Image via Miramax Films

Do you know what’s next for you? Are you currently shooting something now? Do you know what you’ll be shooting next?

JACKSON: I thought I did. I was actually supposed to be in Spain shooting the film, but it got pushed, so I don’t know if I’m gonna do it now or not. But I’m looking forward to a couple of different things that are supposed to happen this year. The business is acting so funny. It’s not like the old days, where I knew two movies ahead, and I knew they were gonna happen. Now, I know two movies ahead, but then they come back a week later and go, “Well, we’re not quite ready yet.” And you don’t know if it’s money, you don’t know if it’s the sets, you don’t know if they wanna change the script, you don’t know if they just don’t wanna it anymore and don’t know how to tell you. So, I don’t know. It’s a new world, and I’m adjusting to it.

Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist is available to stream on Peacock. Check out the trailer:

Watch on Peacock