One of the more infamous stories from ESPN’s “The Last Dance” documentary is being adapted into a standalone movie.
Academy Award nominee LaKeith Stanfield is set to portray former NBA great Dennis Rodman in “48 Hours In Vegas,” a film that was initially set to star Jonathan Majors, but the actor was dropped from the lead role due to his 2023 assault conviction.
The film, billed as a comedy, is set to take viewers back to the 1998 NBA season, when Rodman inexplicably left the Chicago Bulls to spend time in Las Vegas, just as the Bulls were attempting to complete their second three-peat and cement themselves as one of the greatest franchises in NBA history.
Director Rick Famuyiwa (“The Wood,” “Brown Sugar”) will direct the film and helm the screenplay crafted by him and Jordan VanDina. Rodman will serve as an executive producer.
“I’m genuinely excited to help create an exhilarating, joyful work that both honors and thoughtfully examines the legacy of Rodman and fellow trailblazers,” Stanfield said in a statement. “Those who moved to the beat of their own drum, undeterred by the obstacles placed before them, then and now.”
“Dennis Rodman is more than a basketball player, more than a personality—he’s an entire cultural phenomenon.” Erin Westerman, president of LionsGate Motion Picture Group, said. “His bold style and physical presence, combined with an iconic persona, created a larger-than-life impact on and off the court. There’ll never be another like him. LaKeith and the incredibly talented team on this film will bring the legend to life in this most extraordinarily unbelievable story.”
For viewers who recall the retelling of the story in “The Last Dance,” Rodman told Bulls head coach Phil Jackson that he needed a vacation and was feeling burned out for the NBA season. Jackson agreed and Rodman went to Las Vegas with then-girlfriend Carmen Electra. Rodman would then not be found and was only brought back to the Bulls by none other than Michael Jordan.
“We had to go get his ass out of bed,” Jordan said. “I’m not gonna say what’s in his bed and where he was and blah, blah, blah.”
As the Bulls celebrated another title, viewers are about to get a wild nostalgia trip pretty soon.
