Amazon is going the distance with Michael B. Jordan. Last month, Amazon MGM Studios awarded the Best Actor winner the coveted Project Hail Mary slot at its 2026 CinemaCon presentation to preview his take on The Thomas Crown Affair, which the Sinners leading man directed and stars in. And at the Amazon Upfront on Monday night, Prime Video revealed that it will be launching not just one, but three Jordan-produced shows from the actor’s Outlier Society production company with the first likely rolling out later this year to compete in the 2027 Emmys.
“When the vision aligns, you’ve got to big,” Jordan told packed to the rafters Beacon Theatre crowd, which greeted him like a conquering hero. “That’s what Outlier and Amazon MGM Studios are doing together.”
First out of the gate for this new Prime Video and Outlier alliance is The Greatest, a biographical series that explores the early years of the world’s most famous boxer, Muhammad Ali, back when he was a hungry young fighter named Cassius Clay. While Ali’s story has been told onscreen before — the champ played himself in the 1977 biopic, The Greatest, while Will Smith wore his gloves in Michael Mann’s 2001 hit, Ali — Jordan emphasized that this version is the first one to be officially approved by his estate, led by his fourth wife, Yolanda Williams, who joined the actor onstage.
“One man comes to mind when I think of lasting, impactful work,” Jordan said. “[Ali] wasn’t just the greatest boxer who ever lived, but a man who transcended sports entirely. No athlete, no celebrity, no public figure had an impact quite like Ali.”
Newcomer Jaalan Best will step into the ring as the young Ali, and the actor expressed his appreciation for the opportunity. “This process for me has been one of the most humbling, terrifying, exhilarating, inspiring all at once situations for me. I put my all into this role, and I’m proud of the person I became after.”
Overseen by creator and producer Ben Watkins, The Greatest wrapped production last year, and Jordan shared a first look trailer for the Beacon crowd that featured plenty of fights being thrown, but also emphasized Ali’s singular determination to be a force for good outside of the boxing world. Look for Prime Video to mount a big Emmy campaign for the 2027 cycle that emphasizes Best’s forceful presence and the way that Ali’s example and legacy has shaped Jordan’s still-evolving career.
Jordan’s other two projects have yet to start production, but the announcements stirred enthusiasm in the room. In lieu of training for another Creed movie, the actor is bulking up the shared Rocky-Adonis universe with Delphi, a new drama set at the gym that forged both Apollo and Adonis Creed. The series will follow a young Latino fighter who enters the Delphi doors in search of a fresh start.
“All the storytelling and character building that started 50 years ago with Rocky is doing to be important to Delphi,” Jordan said, teasing that the show will start shooting on location in Los Angeles later this month. This will be the first TV series based on Sylvester Stallone’s 1976 Best Picture-winning film and subsequent boxing franchise, which scored a new life after Jordan and Ryan Coogler teamed up for 2015’s Creed, which picked up a Best Supporting Actor nomination for Rocky’s alter ego. That legacy should help Delphi land some punches in the 2028 Emmy cycle.
Jordan then jumped from boxers to dragons, revealing that Outlier landed one of the most coveted BookTok adaptations around — a series based on the blockbuster Fourth Wing series by Rebecca Yarros. Made in collaboration with Westworld and Fallout mastermind Lisa Joy and Locke & Key showrunner Meredith Averill, the fantasy series could become Prime Video’s answer to Game of Thrones both in terms of viewership and Emmy love. That’s territory that Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power previously hoped to occupy, but that series — which is returning for Season 3 later this year — never quite connected with voters.
“People don’t just read these books, they live in them,” stressed Averill. “Fourth Wing is everything at once: the emotional stakes are sky high, the battles are epic, the power dynamics are thrilling and underneath it there is so much humor and heart.” Yarros joined the trio onstage and spoke directly to fans by saying: “These are people who understand what a story means to its readers and are passionate about the book, which is why I trust them completely.”
While Jordan was the star attraction at the Amazon Upfront — along with musical guests Diplo, Kacey Musgraves and Shaboozey, who played a private set at the afterparty — Prime Video did share details about some of the other series and films it will be streaming during the 2026-27 season. Expect plenty of Reacher-like firepower and a Santa Claus who really wants to pump you up.
It’s not a reindeer
Even as Amazon MGM Studios expands its theatrical slate, Prime Video is still a… uh, prime destination for straight-to-streaming fare. Amazon teased three big features that will bypass theaters for at-home premieres, starting with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s holiday comedy, The Man with the Bag, which finds the Jingle All the Way star donning Santa Claus’s red duds. Also starring Reacher‘s Alan Ritchson, the film looks to be a cross between Elf and Miracle on 34th Street, with Ritchson’s small time crook not quite believing that he’s in the company of good ol’ St. Nick.
“I’ve played the Terminator, I’ve played Conan the Barbarian, but the greatest pleasure of all was to play Santa Claus,” Schwarzenegger told the audience. By the way, this isn’t the first time the action icon has been part of a small screen Christmas carol. Back in 1992, Schwarzenegger directed the TNT holiday movie, Christmas in Connecticut, which remains his only behind-the-camera credit. While that film didn’t earn any Emmy nominations, maybe voters will stash a few nods in Santa’s bag for the 2027 awards cycle.
Also debuting later this year on Prime Video is a live action version of a beloved ’80s animated series. No, not Masters of the Universe — we’re talking about Voltron, which is not following Nicholas Galitzine’s He-Man into theaters, thus demonstrating the limits of Saturday morning cartoon nostalgia. And with romantic comedies still a dicey theatrical proposition, Amazon is sending Meghann Fahy and Penn Badgley’s rom-com You Deserve Each Other to streaming in the hopes of replicating The Idea of You‘s success in 2024.
Page turners
Fourth Wing is part of Amazon’s Page to Prime initiative whereby the media giant tracks the book series that are burning up the sales charts on its virtual bookstore and then snapping up the adaptation rights for Prime Video. That’s the path previously trod by streaming hits like Reacher, The Summer I Turned Pretty and Chris Pratt’s The Terminal List, which is returning for Season 2 later this year.
And plenty more Page to Prime adaptations are on deck, ranging from YA romances like Off Campus to horror classics like Stephen King’s Carrie, which is getting the prestige TV treatment. The streamer’s literary adaptations should get another boost from noted reader Oprah Winfrey, who is bringing her suite of podcasts to Amazon’s Wondery platform.
Just imagine a world where Oprah gets to tell a roomful of authors: “You get a TV show! You get a TV show! Everybody gets a TV show!” It’s easy if you try.
