Shaft and The Banker star Samuel L. Jackson is set to star in a new limited series for Apple+ TV, The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey. The six-episode limited series is based on the critically acclaimed novel of the same name by Walter Mosley, with Mosley tapped to write the screen adaptation as well executive produce alongside Jackson, his producing partner Diane Houslin, and David Levine and Eli Selden for Anonymous Content. More details on the plot via Deadline:
In the series, produced by Apple Studios, Jackson stars as Ptolemy Grey, a 91-year-old man forgotten by his family, by his friends, by even himself. On the brink of sinking even deeper into a lonely dementia, Ptolemy experiences a seismic shift when he’s given the tremendous opportunity to briefly regain his memories, and uses this precious and fleeting lucidity to solve his nephew’s death and come to terms with his past.
This project will be the latest collaboration between Jackson and Apple+ TV, the most recent being the 2020 feature The Banker with fellow Marvel’s Avengers co-star Anthony Mackie. And speaking of the Avengers, Jackson is also staying in high demand with the franchise, especially in the upcoming year. Last week, the Walt Disney Company barraged the world (and Twitter) with news of their project slate for 2021 and beyond. One of those projects, Secret Invasion, will see Jackson reprising his role as former S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury and there have been talks of him potentially appearing in three more additional Marvel films (though those rumors haven’t been confirmed yet.) As it stands, Jackson’s other upcoming films include The Hitman Wife’s Bodyguard, The Asset, Spiral and the animated Blazing Samurai.
As for Mosley, he’s arguably still coming down off that high of winning the National Book Award’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters and being the first Black man to do so. (Yeah, you read that right. I can’t believe we’re still doing “firsts” in 2020 but alas, here we are.) But that’s not stopping him from dropping gems about his creative process; he recently visited our podcast, The Root Presents: It’s Lit! and is teaching the art of fiction and storytelling in a new series for MasterClass available now.
As of now, there has been no word yet on a potential release date for the series.