EXCLUSIVE: Sylvester Stallone‘s Balboa Productions, Cole Hauser‘s American Outlaw Entertainment and MGM Television are teaming on a series adaptation of the book Blood Aces: The Wild Ride of Benny Binion, the Texas Gangster Who Created Vegas Poker, Doug J. Swanson‘s definitive deep dive into the life of the man who built the foundation of modern Las Vegas gambling. Yellowstone‘s Hauser set to play Binion.
Published in 2014, Blood Aces charts Binion’s explosive rise from a Fort Worth, TX hustler to the ruthless, larger-than-life mastermind who redefined Vegas and the worlds of poker and rodeo. Positioned as a gritty, character-driven prestige series, the adaptation will capture his unapologetically bold style, from violently outsmarting rivals to building a family empire and bending the law to his will.
‘Douglas J. Swanson’s book captures the incredible life of Benny Binion, a New West icon who was a conduit connecting many worlds, some glamorous, some dangerous, some shady, but all intriguing, while helping to build the foundation for both Las Vegas as we know it and the explosive worldwide popularity of poker,” said Stallone. “This is a story that will captivate audiences, and it’s a role made for Cole Hauser to play. I am proud and excited to partner with Cole to bring this story to life.”
Stallone and D. Matt Geller will executive produce Blood Aces for Balboa Productions alongside Hauser and Randall Batinkoff for American Outlaw Entertainment, and Jai Stefan. Producers are currently meeting with top-tier showrunners for the project. Stallone and Hauser have a common rep In IAG, led by Jim Osborne, which also reps their production companies and helped forge their partnership on this series.
In a statement on the project, Hauser said, “Benny Binion is one of the great Western American characters and success stories of the 20th century, loaded with ambition, vision, balls, and like all controversial characters, many flaws. His legacy is undeniable. How he built it is an incredible story which we can’t wait to tell. It’s a privilege to play him and an honor to produce this with Sylvester Stallone and MGM to bring this incredible story to life.”
Added MGM Television’s Head of Scripted Series, Lindsay Sloane, “Benny Binion’s story is a sweeping American saga of ambition, risk, and reinvention, set against the mythic backdrop of a rapidly evolving Las Vegas. With Sylvester Stallone and Cole Hauser at the helm, this project brings together bold, cinematic storytelling and a deeply compelling central performance to explore the origins of modern poker and the high-stakes world that shaped it. We’re thrilled to partner with such an exceptional creative team to deliver a prestige drama that is as gripping and unpredictable as the man at its center.”
Best known for his role as Rip Wheeler in Taylor Sheridan’s hit series Yellowstone, Hauser will next be seen in Yellowstone spinoff The Dutton Ranch, as well as a football drama from Skydance and writer Nic Pizzolatto (True Detective), that Netflix snapped up in a bidding war, in which he and Matthew McConaughey will play brothers. Hauser and his American Outlaw are also repped by attorney David Krintzman of Yorn, Levine, Barnes.
Stallone’s Balboa Productions is currently shooting the fourth season of his Paramount+ series Tulsa King, as well as Amazon MGM’s untitled Mike Thornton film, a Vietnam-set action thriller directed by Patrick Hughes and toplined by Reacher star Alan Ritchson as Medal of Honor recipient Mike Thornton. News of Balboa’s new series comes a week following our reporting that the company has re-upped its first-look deal with Amazon MGM Studios. Stallone and his Balboa are also repped by Kleinberg Lange Cuddy & Carlo.
Stefan is repped by Fox Rothschild.
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