Originally posted Monday, January 6, 2020 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog [Updated 2/4/20]
Kevin Hart has spent an inordinate amount of time over the past decade in Atlanta shooting movies, from "Think Like a Man" to two "Ride Along" movies to both "Jumanji" films.
Now he's starring in a comedic TV series called "Die Hart" with John Travolta for the upcoming streaming service Quibi, which will focus on 10-minute episodes. Pre-production began today.
“Die Hart” (previously called “Action Scene”) features Hart playing a version of himself trying to land an action-movie role. He attends an action star school run by Travolta’s character.
[UPDATE: Actual production begins February 10, according to Variety . It's set to debut April 3 on Quibi.]
According to the advertised plotline: “After being rejected for the role, Kevin randomly encounters a leading A-List action movie director. Their meeting inadvertently sets off a chain of events that forces Hart to fight his way through a series of over-the-top action sequences with the help of some of Hollywood’s biggest action movie heroes.”
Hart is an executive producer as well.
It’s the first known production from Quibi in the state.
Hart experienced major injuries after a car accident last fall. He underwent back surgery. When he met with Ellen DeGeneres on her talk show last month, he said he was "65 to 75 percent back to my physical self... I'm not lifting crazy weights, but I'm back to weighted workouts, agility, mobility, core workouts. I'm a little determined jacka**."
Quibi was started by former Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg and eBay founder Meg Whitman. It's set to launch April 6. Other short-form projects slated for the service include a judge show featuring Chrissy Teigen, a horror series by Steven Spielberg and a survival reality series featuring Zac Efron.
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