The abrupt cancelation of Netflix’s Luke Cage sent shockwaves amongst the television show’s fans, but showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker gon’ be alright.
According to Deadline, the man who penned the 2009 Biggie biopic Notorious has landed an overall deal with Amazon Studios. The new slew of upcoming projects will come from his Fighting 99th Entertainment banner. The deal is set for three years.
“Amazon is the future, and their bespoke, specific approach to building groundbreaking shows offers an amazing opportunity, one that I’m incredibly thankful for,” Coker, a 2018 Root 100 honoree, remarked. “I can’t think of a better place to launch the first shows developed under my Seattle-based Fighting 99th Entertainment banner, and am excited for people to see what we have in store.”
A holiday gift and sweet Christmas, indeed.
We interrupted Coker Friday morning as he was making breakfast, but he paused long enough to tell The Root that he was “extremely excited about the opportunity.”
“We’re very excited to welcome Cheo to the Amazon Studios family,” noted Amazon Studios’ Television co-head, Vernon Sanders. “From Notorious to Luke Cage, Cheo is a provocative, revolutionary storyteller, and we’re happy he’ll be creating those kinds of bold new series exclusively for Prime Video.”
Beginning his career as a music journalist, Coker pivoted to screenwriting in 2009 with Notorious, sparking a now-extensive career in television, racking up credits for Southland, NCIS: Los Angeles, Almost Human and Ray Donovan. He also has a “Story By” credit for the Michael B. Jordan hit, Creed II, which recently passed the $100 million mark in domestic box office gross.