Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo is moving into the world of television by producing a show for on-demand service Facebook Watch and developing an animated project that has been compared to Michael Jordan’s Space Jam.
The yet-to-be-named show for Facebook Watch will be executive-produced by Ronaldo and follows a female football team from upstate New York whose success, according to Deadline, will help “overcome deep divisions along racial, ethnic and class lines”.
“While the series is set against the background of soccer, it goes much deeper than just the beautiful game,” said Ronaldo. “It’s about values, challenges, friendship, difficult times, hard work, solidarity, tensions, and harmony. In a word – it’s about life.”
The footballer will also star in the animated superhero cartoon Striker Force 7, which is expected to be a comic, a video game and have some form of digital content. Striker Force 7 has been compared to Space Jam, the 1996 animated comedy that starred basketball player Michael Jordan, Bill Murray and the cast of Looney Tunes.
“In the same way football connects cultures and people around the world, I believe great animated characters and heroes can do the same,” said Ronaldo. “That’s why I am excited to bring together these passions of football and superheroes through this project and share it with my fans.”
Ronaldo follows other sports stars who have moved into television and film production. Lebron James’s production company SpringHill Entertainment has created shows such as the critically lauded comedy Survivor’s Remorse, as well as light entertainment including The Wall. James is also involved in producing British crime drama Top Boy along with rapper Drake, which returns on Netflix later this year.
NBA and NFL stars Drew Brees, Tony Parker, Derrick Brooks and Michael Finley also have their own production company, Argent Pictures, which was involved in producing American Made, Nate Parker’s Birth of a Nation and the Oscar-winning Hacksaw Ridge.
Facebook Watch, the social media giant’s on-demand television service, recently announced American Queen, a series about a beauty pageant coach, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Help Us Get Married!, a docuseries featuring Sister Sister’s Tamera Mowry-Housley.
