Curtis ‘50 Cent’ Jackson Boards ‘Payday’ TV Series as Executive Producer

Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson has built one of the more prolific production track records in television, with his G-Unit Film & Television banner responsible for some of the last decade’s most popular crime dramas. From ‘Power’ to ‘BMF,’ Jackson has repeatedly proven he can turn gritty, high-stakes underworld stories into hits, and now he’s setting his sights on an entirely new kind of source material.

That expansion has been building since earlier this year, when Vice Studios and video game publisher Starbreeze Entertainment first announced plans to adapt the long-running ‘Payday’ heist game franchise for television and film. The games, which follow a crew of masked criminals pulling off increasingly ambitious heists, have generated more than $400 million in lifetime revenue and built a community of over 50 million players since debuting in 2011.

Now, Jackson is officially joining that adaptation, boarding the ‘Payday‘ TV series as an executive producer through his G-Unit Film & Television banner, Variety reported exclusively. He’ll be working alongside Vice Studios and Starbreeze on bringing the franchise’s world of masked robbers and elaborate heists to the screen.

Jackson described the partnership as a natural extension of the kind of crime storytelling his company has built its reputation on, saying that teaming up with Vice Studios to bring ‘Payday’ to screen gives them the chance to build a high-energy franchise capable of pushing the heist genre forward, according to Variety.

‘Payday’ centers on a crew of masked criminals whose ambitions never seem to have a ceiling, tackling audacious scores against powerful enemies while navigating a world defined by betrayal and conspiracy. That blend of high-octane heist action and morally murky character dynamics lines up closely with the kind of crime drama Jackson has spent years perfecting through the ‘Power’ universe.

Vice Studios president Amy Powell echoed that sentiment, explaining that the studio has always gravitated toward stories that operate outside conventional boundaries, and that Jackson’s team brings a genuine understanding of what makes ‘Payday’ work without sanding down its rougher edges. Starbreeze CEO Adolf Kristjansson offered a similarly direct endorsement, noting that both his studio and Jackson’s team share a shared refusal to play it safe with the material.

The ‘Payday’ series adds to an already packed development slate for Jackson’s production company. Beyond the sprawling ‘Power’ franchise, which includes ‘Power Book II: Ghost,’ ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan,’ and ‘Power Book IV: Force,’ along with the upcoming ‘Power: Origins’ and ‘Power: Legacy,’ G-Unit is also behind Starz’s ‘BMF’ and the network’s upcoming series ‘Fightland.’

Jackson’s company is also developing ‘The Accomplice’ at Peacock, with Taraji P. Henson attached to star. No writer or network has been confirmed yet for the ‘Payday’ series, meaning the project remains in its early development stages even with Jackson’s involvement now locked in. Given his track record of turning crime-driven concepts into long-running franchises, though, ‘Payday’ looks poised to become the next major addition to his growing television empire.

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