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Alicia Keys Produces Play for Screen, Vin Diesel to Star in Kojak Movie

The singer brings Stick Fly to TV, the action hero to become legendary cop.

Two upcoming adaptations promise to deliver some interesting projects for both television and film. The Broadway play Stick Fly will soon become an HBO movie, co-produced by Alicia Keys, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Playwright Lydia Diamond will write the adaptation of the drama, which exposes hypocrisy and adultery during a Black family’s weekend in Martha’s Vineyard.

Keys will also contribute original music to the hour-long drama, which currently has a script commitment. The Broadway production of Stick Fly ran from November 2011 to February 2012 and starred Dulé Hill, Mekhi Phifer and Tracie Thoms. The play marked Diamond’s Broadway debut after penning stage productions of The Bluest Eye and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.

Vin Diesel is about to find out who loves him, baby. Deadline is reporting that the action star is set to headline and produce a feature film version of the popular '70s television detective series Kojak.

Originally portrayed by Telly Savalas, the character was known just as much for his bald-head and penchant for lollipops as he was for a being a tough-talking New York City crime detective.

The project appears to be in very good screenwriting hands. Skyfall scribes Neal Purvis and Robert Wade will contemporize the Kojak legend for today’s audiences. 

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