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The charm of each "Ocean's Eleven" film, from the original to the George Clooney and Sandra Bullock vehicles, lies in its star-studded cast. Starring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and Peter Lawford, the first film cemented the Rat Pack's fame. It was thanks to that motley crew of crooners that the dialogue felt like it was ripped straight from the floor of the Sands where they performed in real life.

In "Sammy Davis Jr.: A Personal Journey with My Father," his daughter Tracey Davis and co-author Nina Bunche Pierce recount Davis Jr's time filming "Ocean's 11." Davis writes that her...

The post The Original Ocean's 11 Owes A Lot To The Rat Pack's Improv appeared first on /Film.

MGM has launched development on a Sammy Davis Jr. biopic with Lena Waithe and Rishi Rajani producing through their Hillman Grad banner, along with Sight Unseen’s Julia Lebedev and Eddie Vaisman.

The untitled project is based on the 1996 biography “Sammy Davis Jr.: My Father,” written by Davis’ daughter Tracey Davis and Dolores A. Barclay. David Matthews is writing the script.

Davis began his career in the entertainment business as a child and became a sensation following a nightclub performance at Ciro’s in West Hollywood after the 1951 Academy Awards. He starred with the rest of the Rat Pack — Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford — in the film “Ocean’s 11,” was the host of “The Sammy Davis Jr. Show” on television and recorded the number one song “The Candy Man.” He was widely criticized for endorsing President Richard Nixon in 1972. Davis passed away in 1990 at the...

MGM is in development on a biopic on the life of Sammy Davis Jr., the singer and Rat Pack legend, an individual with knowledge of the project told TheWrap.

Lena Waithe will produce the biopic along with Rishi Rajani, Julia Lebedev and Eddie Vaisman, and the untitled film will be based on a book by Davis Jr.’s daughter Tracey Davis called “Sammy Davis Jr.: My Father” that was published in 1996. The book looks at Tracey’s loving, but distant relationship with her celebrity father and how she even confronted him as they grew older. David Matthews will write the screenplay.

Here’s the full synopsis:

In his 60’s, groundbreaking entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. tries to pull off the biggest showbiz reunion in history — but first, he’ll have to mend all the relationships he’s broken along the way to stardom…Told in impressionistic flashbacks, the story of Sammy Davis,...

Exclusive: MGM has set a Sammy Davis Jr. biopic that will be based on Sammy Davis Jr.: My Father, a 1996 book written by Davis’ daughter Tracey Davis and Dolores A. Barclay. Studio has Hillman Grad’s Lena Waithe and Rishi Rajani producing with Sight Unseen’s Julia Lebedev and Eddie Vaisman. David Matthews is writing the script.

The project reunites Waithe with MGM’s Pamela Abdy, who most recently collaborated on Queen and Slim at Makeready. In the book, daughter Tracey recounted a loving but distant relationship with her father, describing how she confronted him and how they drew closer as she grew older. The movie will look at the singer’s later life. In his 60s, he tried to pull off the biggest showbiz reunion in history — but first, he had to mend all the relationships he’d broken along the way to stardom, including the one with his daughter.

Bet Networks has set the cast for their forthcoming original comedy series Bigger from executive producer Will Packer. The scripted series will star Tanisha Long, Angell Conwell, Rasheda Crockett, Chase Anthony and Tristen Winger. Bigger recently wrapped production this summer in Atlanta. The 10 half-hour episodes will debut on the network’s streaming service Bet+ later this fall.

Set in the East Atlanta neighborhood of Little Five Points, Bigger follows a single black woman who is dealing with the threat of marriage to a boring-in-bed boyfriend and the sudden, random death of a college acquaintance. The tragedy drives her ambitious group of friends to take a deeper look at their stagnant lives, asking themselves: Is there something bigger and better in life?

“I’m excited about bringing this cast of some of the most talented new voices in television to this great new medium,” said Packer.

Here are the actors’ character...