Glen Powell to Star in College Football Comedy at Hulu
Glen Powell is headed back to college — and to Hulu.
The red-hot star of Anyone but You and the forthcoming Twisters will star in Chad Powers, a comedy series about a disgraced college football quarterback who disguises himself and walks on to another school’s team. Powell also co-created the Ted Lasso-ish series with Michael Waldron, the creator of Loki and writer of the next two Avengers movies. It’s based on an episode of ESPN+’s Eli’s Places, in which former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning goes undercover as a walk-on prospect named Chad Powers at Penn State (watch the episode below).
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“We’re both diehard college football fans,” Powell and Waldron said in a statement. “When we saw Eli as Chad Powers, we knew that was the way into a big, fun story about this world. We’re excited to be part of this team, and can’t wait to get Chad in the game. Think fast, run fast.”
The show comes from 20th Television and Peyton Manning’s (Eli’s big brother) Omaha Productions, along with ESPN and Waldron’s Anomaly Pictures (through which Waldron signed an overall deal with 20th and Marvel last year). Waldron and Powell co-wrote the pilot episode and will executive produce with Peyton and Eli Manning, Jamie Horowitz and Ben Brown of Omaha Productions, Anomaly’s Adam Fasullo, and ESPN.
The show’s logline reads, “When bad behavior nukes hotshot QB Russ Holliday’s college career, he disguises himself and walks onto a struggling southern football team as the talented, affable Chad Powers.”
“The love for Chad Powers has surprised me in spectacular ways,” said Eli Manning. “I played 16 years in the NFL, but now when I’m in a restaurant or walking through an airport, it’s not uncommon for fans to scream, ‘Hey Chad!’ I’m so excited to team up with my friends Glen Powell, Michael Waldron and Omaha Productions to continue to tell the Chad Powers story and see what he does next.”
Powell previously played a college athlete — a baseball player — in Richard Linklater’s Everybody Wants Some!! and has Twisters and another Linklater collaboration, Hit Man, due for release later this year. He also produced a documentary about the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels flying team that’s set to premiere on Amazon’s Prime Video in the summer. Powell is repped by CAA, The Initiative Group and Johnson Shapiro.
Waldron also wrote Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness for Marvel and created Starz’s wrestling drama Heels. He began his career on Rick and Morty. He is repped by Grandview, CAA and SSML.
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