Spike Lee backing Tyson series

Spike Lee backing Tyson series

Published Jun. 21, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

Filmmaker Spike Lee, boxing great Mike Tyson and "Entourage" creator Doug Ellin are teaming up for a new HBO drama, Variety reported Tuesday.

The project, titled "Da Brick," will be loosely based on Tyson's experiences growing up in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The idea first came about when Tyson made a cameo appearance on "Entourage" last season.

"[Tyson] said to me, 'Why don't you do with my life what you did with Mark [Wahlberg's] life with 'Entourage,'" Ellin explained.

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With "Entourage" in its eighth and final season, Ellin had been looking to branch out as a producer, the report said.

This, however, will be the first project from his Fly The Coop Entertainment banner that he will not write, with that role falling to John Ridley, who has worked on sitcoms "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and "Barbershop: The Series," as well as writing the original script for feature film "Three Kings."

"Da Brick" will be set in modern-day Newark -- nicknamed "Brick City" -- and follow the rise of a young boxer. Ellin and Ridley reportedly spent a lot of time with Tyson over the past year gathering material.

The project is still in development and, according to Deadline.com, a casting director is on the hunt for a young black actor who can box to play the lead role.

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