Kumail Nanjiani’s all about being ripped these days for Marvel Studios’ The Eternals, but he’ll be able to focus on other people’s muscles while portraying the founder of the Chippendales. Hulu’s doing up a limited series to chronicle the dubious adventures of Somen “Steve” Banerjee, an Indian-American entrepreneur who built a male-revue empire. He did, eventually, veer way downhill with Banerjee being indicted for allegedly orchestrating the late 1980s murder of Chippendales choreographer Nick De Noia. While awaiting sentencing, Banerjee apparently killed himself, so it’s all ultimately a very dark story, but it’s being labeled as a “darkly comedic” endeavor by Hulu.
In a press release, the streaming service announced that the Robert Siegel (creator of Pam and Tommy, currently filming with Sebastian Stan and Lily James looking far too realistic) and Kumail have teamped up to executive produce the eight-episode series, titled Immigrant, which is described as an “insane, darkly comedic, crime-ridden story behind the unique male revue that became a cultural phenomenon.”
Also onboard to executive produce is Kumail’s wife, Emily V. Gordon (the pair previously worked on The Big Sick together and are pairing up for another project from It director Andy Muschietti). Interestingly enough, this isn’t the only Banerjee-focused project in the works. Back in 2017, Dev Patel signed on to play the entrepreneur in Chippendales, which officially decided to move forward in late 2020 with a release date unknown. That movie’s already been in development for over 20 years, so clearly, Hollywood wants some more Magic Mike vibes. They need to get some lawbreakers up in that house, too.
