EXCLUSIVE: Objectively Good Media is in the early stages of development on Seventy-twoan authorized biopic about actor, comedian and television presenter Steve Harvey, Deadline has learned.
Producers include Mohamed Kheir and Matthew R. Cooper for OGM, and East 112, which is being run by Harvey and Thabiti Stephens, chief strategy officer of Steve Harvey Global. A writer has not yet been set for the project.
Seventy-two revolves around a transformative 72-hour period leading up to Harvey’s career-defining performance at the legendary Apollo Theater in 1993. The film offers audiences an intimate look at the perseverance and challenges that shaped Harvey’s career. At 26, Harvey left his secure job as a salesman to pursue a career as a comedian, and had to overcome numerous obstacles along the way. At 36, however, he experienced a period of self-doubt and personal struggles while preparing for the performance that would change his career. OGM developed the idea and brought it to Harvey and East 112.
Harvey said: “I hesitated for years to make a film about my life until I got the pitch for Seventy-two. It focuses on one of the most difficult moments of my journey and career and shows the world that hope is never truly lost. Wait until you see what we make of it.”
OGM’s Kheir added: “It was an incredible honour to secure the rights to tell this story. Steve Harvey’s ability to turn his trials into triumphs is inspiring and Seventy-two will showcase the resilience and determination that characterized those pivotal days. We look forward to sharing this powerful story with viewers around the world.”
Harvey began his career as a stand-up comedian in the early 1980s and hosted the famous variety show Showtime at the Apollo from 1993 to 2000. An entertainer and media mogul whose career spanned nearly four decades, he became a household name as the star of The WB sitcom The Steve Harvey Showwhich ran for six seasons and was seen during the same period on the legendary “Kings of Comedy Tour”, which Spike Lee immortalized with his 2000 documentary The original kings of comedy. He received several Daytime Emmys for his long-running daytime talk show Steve Harvey and earned more as a game show host Family disputewhich he is still working on today, together with Celebrity family feudThis is just a fraction of Harvey’s professional achievements, as he is also known as an author, motivational speaker and entrepreneur.
Objectively Good Media was founded in 2023 by Cooper, Uwakokunre (Kokie) Imasogie, Nicholas “Nikko” Lara and Kheir and will end its production on Damned if you doa black comedy about a group of teenage friends who have sold their souls to the devil. Kate Siegel and Harvey Guillén are among the stars in the flick, which marks the directorial debut of Jake Rubin and Evan Metzold. The upstart production company named Anna Dragoo as its new head of development earlier this week.
Harvey is represented by CAA, Steve Harvey Global and Brandon R. Williams Esq.
