The pay cable network has picked up to series the pilot toplined by the wrestling and movie star, Dwayne Johnson.
The former WWE wrestler will lead and executive produce Ballers, the half-hour series which focus on the lives of a group of former and current football players as noted by Deadline.
Johnson will star as Spencer Strasmore, a retired athlete who is living in Miami. He co-stars Omar Benson Miiler who will play the role of a former pro athlete who is searching for his next career; John David Washington (Denzel Washington’s son) as Ricky, a competitive and spiritual athlete. Rob Corddry will also co-star in the series as Joe, a financial adviser who tries to fit in; Donovan Carter as Vernon, a family-oriented pro athlete; Jazmyn Simon as Julie, wife of an ex-pro athlete; Taylor Cole as Michaels, a ESPN reporter who is romantically involved with Spencer and LeToya Luckett as Tina, a widow to one of Spencer’s closest friends.
Johnson’s Pain & Gain co-star Mark Wahlberg will be executive producing the series while Steve Levinson, Peter Berg, Evan Reilly, Dany Garcia. Hiram Garcia will be the co-executive producers of the series which will start production later this year.
HBO is producing Ballers with Closest to the Hole Productions, Leverage Entertainment, and White Buffalo Entertainment. Wahlberg and Levinson also produced for HBO the drama series Boardwalk Empire and the upcoming Entourage movie based on the HBO series.
Dwayne Johnson has a reality series at TNT title Wake Up Call in which the actor helps ordinary people overcome major challenges.