By SCM Entertainment Desk
NEW YORK — More than a decade after transforming Starz from a movie re-run destination into a premium cable powerhouse with Power, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson is making it clear that his tenure in television is far from peaking.
Addressing industry executives, cast members, and press at the premiere of his latest series, Fightland, at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Jackson brushed aside any notion that the television market is overcrowded or that his slate of gritty dramas has hit a ceiling.
”There’s plenty of room for me in television,” Jackson said, reflecting on his expanding footprint as a producer and studio head. “When you deliver stories with emotional stakes, real cultural edge, and worlds people haven’t stepped into before, the audience will follow every single time.”
His newest vehicle, Fightland, created by Daniel Fajemisin-Duncan and Marlon Smith, aims to test that premise once again. Set in the high-stakes, underground intersection of British professional boxing and organized crime, the eight-episode drama stars Howard Charles as Duke Kilroy, a disgraced former heavyweight champion who embarks on a campaign of vengeance against his former promoter and underground crime boss, played by Nicholas Pinnock.
The series premiere on July 31 represents more than just another addition to Jackson’s portfolio—it marks a critical structural shift for Starz. Fightland is the network’s first wholly owned original series, a business move meant to build long-term enterprise value rather than relying solely on third-party licensing agreements.
”When we set out to build our first owned series, we knew we needed a story that spoke directly to our audience in a fresh way,” said Kathryn Busby, President of Original Programming at Starz. “So we turned to our long-term creative partner, Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson, and he delivered exactly that.”
Background: Building the House That ‘Power’ Built
To understand Jackson’s swagger in the boardroom, one has to look back to 2014. When Power debuted on Starz, few industry analysts anticipated that a hip-hop star best known for multi-platinum gangsta rap records like Get Rich or Die Tryin’ would orchestrate one of cable television’s most lucrative franchises.
Created alongside showrunner Courtney A. Kemp, Power became an anchor property for Starz, drawing millions of viewers across demographics often ignored by prestige TV outlets. When the flagship series concluded in 2020, Jackson and Starz capitalized on the momentum by spawning a sprawling cinematic universe:
Power Book II: Ghost: A direct continuation following James “Ghost” St. Patrick’s son navigating academia and the drug trade.
Power Book III: Raising Kanan: A 1990s prequel exploring the formative years of Jackson’s own character, Kanan Stark.
Power Book IV: Force: A spin-off centered on fan-favorite antihero Tommy Egan in Chicago.
BMF (Black Mafia Family): A biographical crime drama detailing the rise of Detroit’s Flenory brothers in the 1980s.
The performance of these franchises established Jackson not merely as talent, but as a kingmaker capable of anchoring an entire premium network’s programming schedule.
Beyond Starz: The Production Mogul Infrastructure
While Fightland reinforces his historic relationship with Starz, Jackson has actively broadened his infrastructure to ensure independence across the media landscape.
In 2023, Jackson struck a non-exclusive broadcast deal with Fox Entertainment to develop scripted comedies, animated projects, and procedural dramas through his company, G-Unit Film & Television. A year later, in April 2024, he took a major physical step toward Hollywood self-reliance by opening G-Unit Studios in Shreveport, Louisiana.
Spanning 985,000 square feet, the facility stands as the second-largest Black-owned production studio in the United States, behind only Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta. The studio gives Jackson the physical capacity to produce soundstage work, film features, and edit series in-house, bypassing traditional studio rental bottlenecks.
Jackson’s entry into boxing drama with Fightland is also a personal full-circle moment. A former competitive amateur boxer in South Jamaica, Queens, Jackson previously managed professional fighters under his SMS Promotions banner during the 2010s and co-starred in Antoine Fuqua’s 2015 boxing film Southpaw.
By turning his lens on the gritty realism of London’s boxing gyms and crime circles, Jackson is bringing an insider’s authenticity to Fightland.
”People think television is getting saturated, but good stories are rare,” Jackson noted after the Fightland premiere. “As long as you give viewers characters they care about—and fights that feel real—there’s always going to be plenty of room.”