LaKeith Stanfield is set to star as controversial basketball player Dennis Rodman in Rick Famuyiwa’s “48 Hours in Vegas” at Lionsgate.
First announced back in late 2022, the film is inspired by Rodman’s legendary 48-hour party bender in Las Vegas in 1998 during the NBA Finals, back when he was a star player for the Chicago Bulls.
He asked his coach Phil Jackson if he could take a 48-hour vacation in Las Vegas in the middle of the NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz. Jackson consented and a sports legend was born with this movie set to take its own path with the story.
The film will follow Rodman and his anxious assistant as they develop an unexpected friendship amid the player’s Sin City revelry.
Jonathan Majors was originally slated to star in the role but exited the project in early 2024. Stanfield is now stepping into the role and says in a statement:
“I’m genuinely excited to help create an exhilarating, joyful work that both honors and thoughtfully examines the legacy of Rodman and fellow trailblazers. Those who moved to the beat of their own drum, undeterred by the obstacles placed before them, then and now.”
Jordan VanDina (“The Binge”) penned the screenplay while “Spider-Man: Acrosss the Spider-Verse” producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller will produce along with Aditya Sood. Famuyiwa (“The Mandalorian,” “Ahsoka”) will write the next draft of the screenplay.
Source: Lionsgate
