J.J. Abrams‘ Bad Robot has teamed with RuPaul and reality production company World of Wonder (RuPaul’s Drag Race) for a half-hour dramedy series project, a fictionalized version of RuPaul’s rise from club kid to drag queen, gay icon, and global star.
Written by Power executive producer Gary Lennon, the drama is set in New York City during the Reagan era 1980s. Warner Bros TV, where Bad Robot is based, is the studio. The series is expected to be taken to the marketplace shortly.
RuPaul will executive produce alongside Bad Robot’s Abrams and Ben Stephenson as well as World of Wonder’s Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato, and Tom Campbell.
RuPaul, a San Diego native who moved to Atlanta to study performing arts, settled in New York City where he became a popular fixture on the nightclub scene, a period in his life that has inspired the dramedy project.
RuPaul, full name RuPaul Andre Charles, has a longstanding relationship with World Of Wonder dating back to appearing on the company’s Channel 4 series Manhattan Cable and toplining its series The RuPaul Show for VH1 in the 1990s. WOW produces the hit RuPaul’s Drag Race — moving from Logo TV to VH1 this year — as well as all of its offshoots. RuPaul’s Drag Race, heading into its ninth season, earned RuPaul an Emmy Award for best reality series host last year.
Bad Robot is producing the breakout HBO drama series Westworld and recently announced new drama series for Hulu, Castle Rock, based on the works of Stephen King.
Lennon’s series credits also include Orange Is The New Black and Justified. Lennon, RuPaul and Bad Robot are repped by CAA.
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