50 Cent's Fightland rides a wave of boxing nostalgia
50 Cent's new Starz drama Fightland premieres Friday, mixing British boxing with a crime-revenge plot as the rapper-turned-executive producer leans into the sport's cultural pull—from Rocky nostalgia to modern gladiator thrills—while early reviews call the London-set series familiar and only barely a contender.
Key Takeaways
- Fightland premieres Friday on Starz, with Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson as executive producer.
- Howard Charles stars as London boxer Maduka "Duke" Kilroy in a boxing-and-crime revenge story.
- Jackson frames boxing as modern gladiator spectacle and cites his past SMS Promotions work.
- The Hollywood Reporter calls it "far from a knockout"; A.V. Club grades it a C+ contender.
- Creators mix British drama veterans with writers from Jackson's Power universe.
What is Fightland and when does it premiere?
Fightland is a London-set Starz drama built around the underworld of British boxing. Per CNN, it arrives Friday with Jackson as executive producer—the same partnership that delivered the Power franchise and BMF.
Howard Charles plays Maduka "Duke" Kilroy, a fighter who rises before tragedy sparks a revenge quest. Deborah Ayorinde stars as Joy Marshall, wife of kingpin Kingsley Marshall (Nicholas Pinnock) and the object of Duke's desire. The Hollywood Reporter adds that Duke wins a Las Vegas heavyweight title in the pilot, then suffers a hammer attack on his hand, loses someone close to him, and serves nearly eight years before returning to London.
Fans of celebrity breaking news will also clock supporting names including Charles Babalola, Anita-Joy Uwajeh, Tahirah Sharif, Tyler Conte, Richard Pepple, and Clarke Peters in limited appearances.
Why does Fightland lean so hard into boxing nostalgia?
Jackson told CNN boxing's pull "goes all the way back to Rome," calling it "our modern-day version" of the gladiators and "the only sport that you can't pass anyone the ball." He previously entered boxing promotion through SMS Promotions in 2012; the company dissolved after a 2015 bankruptcy filing.
The premiere also lands as buzz builds around the Sylvester Stallone biopic I Play Rocky. Asked Rocky versus Creed, Jackson picked Rocky, praising Stallone for creating the story himself. Charles framed fight stories as "a metaphor for our own struggle," while Ayorinde said every character is "fighting for something or fighting against something."
Do early reviews say Fightland delivers a knockout?
Not quite. The Hollywood Reporter's bottom line is "Far from a knockout," arguing the series feels blandly familiar next to Peaky Blinders, Gangs of London, and Power, with boxing often sidelined after a muscular opening bout. Daniel Fajemisin-Duncan and Marlon Smith created the show with Damione Macedon and Raphael Jackson Jr.; THR notes Macedon and Jackson wrote the pilot.
A.V. Club graded Fightland a C+, calling it "a contender, but just barely," and saying a slow start could still help Starz succeed its aging primetime franchises. Jackson still hopes to "score a knockout" with a series set in a city he calls "one of the most beautiful places that I experienced."