Sources say 20th Television will sell the project to other buyers and plan to bring in additional high-level talent before it is released as part of an aggressive effort to find a new home.
The studio was recently able to sell another streaming series, The Spiderwick Chronicles (co-production with main studio Paramount TV Studios), to Roku after Disney+ decided not to go ahead with it.
The rollback of pickups for both series comes amid a cut in content spending across all divisions of Hulu and Disney+ parent company Disney, which the company announced earlier this year. In addition, all media companies have reconsidered their streaming strategies by cutting program costs with a renewed focus on profitability.
Hulu ordered the highly anticipated Sammy Davis Jr. (photo) limited series in April 2022. In February 2023, Kimberly Harrison (The Crossover) was hired as a showrunner.
Written by Daniels and Thomas Westfall based on Will Haygood's biography, In Black and White: The Life of Sammy Davis Jr. and inspired by Alex Haley's interview with Davis, the eight-episode series explores the entertainer's life through the lens of his racial identity and his complex relationship with the black community.
It centers on Davis (Kelley), who rose from vaudeville performer to one of the most famous African-American entertainers of the 1950s and 1960s (and the only black member of Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack). At the same time, he was surrounded by controversy and ridicule for most of his career - over his affairs with white movie stars, his 1960 marriage to Swedish actress May Britt, his conversion to Judaism, his rapprochement with the Kennedy family (and later Richard Nixon) and his problems with alcohol and drugs.
Harrison executive produces along with Daniels, who directs the first two episodes, and Westfall. Marc Toberoff and Pam Williams also serve as executive producers. Haygood and Kelley produce.