Eddie Murphy will star in "The Chairman," a drama series ordered by Peacock and created by Matthew Weiner, the writer-producer behind "Mad Men," the streamer and studio confirmed.
The project pairs one of the biggest film comedians of the past four decades with one of prestige television's most decorated creators, and it lands Murphy in a continuing dramatic television role — a first for an actor whose career has centered on film, stand-up and "Saturday Night Live."
Weiner created "Mad Men" for AMC, where it ran for seven seasons and won four consecutive Emmy Awards for outstanding drama series, plus two Golden Globes for best television drama. He also served as an executive producer on "The Sopranos," writing or co-writing several of that series' most acclaimed episodes.
Murphy's move to a streaming drama follows a career resurgence that began with his 2019 return to "Saturday Night Live" and continued with "Dolemite Is My Name" for Netflix and "Coming 2 America" for Amazon. He earned an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor for his role in Netflix's "Dolemite Is My Name."
Details on the series' premise, episode count, production timeline and release date were not immediately available. Peacock has been building its original drama slate as it competes with Netflix, Max and Amazon's Prime Video for subscribers and awards attention.
For Murphy, the role represents a departure from the broad comedies and family films that made him a box-office draw in the 1980s and 1990s, including "Beverly Hills Cop," "Trading Places" and "The Nutty Professor." He has taken on dramatic material before, earning a Golden Globe nomination for his performance in the 2006 film "Dreamgirls," which won him a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Weiner's last series, "The Romanoffs," an anthology drama for Amazon, ran for one season in 2018. "The Chairman" would be his first new show since then and his first project set up at Peacock.
Casting for the rest of the ensemble and a production start date have not been announced.
