Hulu and 20th Television Adapting ‘BlacKkKlansman’ Author’s New Memoir For TV From Curtis Jackson, Kevin Willmott & Anthony Hemingway

Rosy Cordero
·4-min read

EXCLUSIVE: Hulu and 20th Television are in early development on Hip Hop Cop, a TV series adaptation of Ron Stallworth’s memoir The Gangs of Zion (2024, Hachette Book Group), his first book since the 2018 release of Black Klansman: Race, Hate, and the Undercover Investigation of a Lifetime, Deadline has learned. The project is executive produced by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s G-Unit Film & Television and Ashok Amritraj’s Hyde Park Entertainment Group.

Multiple award winners Kevin Willmott (BlacKkKlansman, Da 5 Bloods) and Anthony Hemingway (American Crime Story, Underground) are set to write and direct the series, respectively. Willmott and Stallworth reunite following their collaboration on the acclaimed 2014 film BlacKkKlansman, based on the latter’s book, for which the former received an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay that he shares with Charlie Wachtell, David Rabinowitz and Spike Lee.

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Hip Hop Cop is not a sequel to BlacKkKlansman but is a continuation of Stallworth’s life story, we understand. The series is set against the rise of rap and hip hop in the 1990s across America and will tell the extraordinary, thrilling, at times absurd and always provocative true story about Ron going undercover for the Salt Lake City Police Department.

A film adaptation of The Gangs of Zion was previously in the works in 2023 from Hyde Park, who owns the rights to the book, with Willmott attached to write the screenplay. The project was rebuilt as this TV series from Hulu and 20th Television.

Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson executive produces for G-Unit Film & Television, Inc. alongside Ashok and Priya Amritraj for Hyde Park, Willmott and Hemingway.

Ron Stallworth and John David Washington, the latter of whom played the former in the hit feature <em>BlacKkKlansman</em>. No casting deals have been made for <em>Hip Hop Cop</em> as of yet.
Ron Stallworth and John David Washington, the latter of whom played the former in the hit feature BlacKkKlansman. No casting deals have been made for Hip Hop Cop as of yet.

Stallworth is an author, speaker, television contributor, and former police detective. He is represented by IAG, Adwater & Stir Solutions and Kjar & Associates.

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Hemingway is currently an executive producer and director on Ryan Murphy’s series All’s Fair, starring Kim Kardashian, for 20th TV and Hulu. He previously directed and co-executive produced FX’s Emmy Award-winning series The People V. O.J. Simpson, for which Hemingway received an individual nomination for direction. Most recently, he exec produced and directed Netflix’s Forever and Starz’s Power Book IV: Force for Season 3. His prior credits include directing and executive producing NatGeo’s Genius: Aretha; directing the pilot and several episodes of Starz’s Power; directing the feature film Red Tails; and directing and executive producing WGN’s Underground. Hemingway is repped by UTA, M88, and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman.

In addition to his significant contribution to BlacKkKlansman, Willmott also co-wrote the Netflix film Da 5 Bloods with Spike Lee and Matthew Billingsly which Lee directed with Chadwick A. Boseman, Delroy Lindo, and Jonathan Majors starring. He also co-wrote The 24th with Trai Byers, which he also directed. Willmott is writing an adaptation of Reginald Lewis’ autobiography, Why Should White Guys Have All The Fun, for Macro and The Conjure-Man Dies for Ley Line Entertainment and Harper Road Films. Willmott is repped by Gersh and Attorney Erik Hyman at Paul Hastings LLP.

Hyde Park’s current slate includes the English-language remake of the classic horror thriller Audition at Focus Features with Christian Tafdrup (Speak No Evil) writing and directing; Rubik’s, a mind-bending cinematic treatment of the bestselling toy in partnership with Fifth Season; and the feature film adaptation of Richard Wright’s incendiary bestselling novel The Man Who Lived Underground written by Kenya Barris.

G-Unit Film & Television has produced a variety of content across numerous platforms and sold multiple shows to various networks. Among them is the Starz series Power, which starred Jackson who also served as EP and director. He successfully expanded the series into the “Power” universe with spin-offs Power Book II: Ghost, Power Book III: Raising Kanan, and Power Book IV: Force. Production just wrapped on Season 4 of Starz’s BMF (Black Mafia Family) and began production on Season 2 of the Black Mafia Family docuseries. Current projects in development include the scripted series Fightland, Queen Nzinga for Starz, Trill League at BET+, the Sean Combs documentary at Netflix and a docuseries based on The Twins podcast at BET+. G-Unit Film & Television recently released the true crime documentary TikTok Star Murders on Peacock with their next collaboration in production, the Gilgo Beach Killer docuseries. Jackson is repped by IAG and Attorney Stephen Savva.

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