Jonathan Majors to portray NBA legend Dennis Rodman in film
“Creed III” just had the biggest sports movie opening weekend of all time — and one of the film’s stars isn’t done making his mark on the genre.
Jonathan Majors stars as the film’s antagonist, Damian Anderson, in Michael B. Jordan’s directorial debut. In the coming months, he will also familiarize himself with a story that Michael J. Jordan knows all too well.
Majors is slated to portray Dennis Rodman in an upcoming film “48 Hours in Vegas.”
Jonathan Majors talks about a planned project where he’s set to play eccentric NBA legend Dennis Rodman. pic.twitter.com/djtYNsQ1Ze
— AP Entertainment (@APEntertainment) March 7, 2023
The story is inspired by Rodman’s impromptu vacation to Las Vegas in January 1998 when he played for the Chicago Bulls. Jordan, his teammate at the time, recalled the incident in Episode 3 of ESPN’s “The Last Dance” docuseries.
“I’m looking at [head coach] Phil [Jackson], ‘You ain’t gonna get that dude back in 48 hours. I don’t care what you say. He’s done.’ He leaves that room, goes straight to the airport, boom! We don’t hear or see Dennis for 48 hours,” Jordan said.
Rodman’s girlfriend at the time, Carmen Electra, confirmed the trip in Episode 4 of the series.
“I do remember being in Vegas with him. It was on,” Electra said. “The party was starting right away. One thing about Dennis — he had to escape. He liked to go out. He liked to go to clubs. We’d go to his favorite restaurant. Then we’d go to a nightclub. Then we’d go to after hours. It didn’t stop.”
Electra also shared how the trip surprisingly ended.
“There’s a knock on the door, and it’s Michael Jordan,” Electra said. “And I hid. I didn’t want him to see me like that. So I’m just, like, hiding behind the couch with covers over me, [then Jordan says], ‘Come on! We got to get to practice.'”
In an April 2020 episode of the “Jalen & Jacoby Aftershow,” “The Last Dance” director Jason Hehir clarified that Jordan confronted Rodman in Chicago, not Las Vegas.
“[Rodman] lived across the street from the United Center. He got back. His vacation — part of it happened in Vegas, of course. He got back and still felt that he was going to do a staycation for a little bit in Chicago so that’s when Michael said, ‘Alright, I’m going to walk across the street.’ … Michael, I think he said off-camera, he grabbed him by his nose ring and took him out.”
Rodman is listed as one of the film’s executive producers, but a release date has yet to be announced. It will be distributed by Lionsgate and the screenplay will be written by Jordan VanDina.
