A project over ten years in the making, Apple TV has finally picked up The Big Cigar, a story about how Black Panther leader Huey P. Newton was able to evade a nationwide manhunt and escape to Cuba, exiled by the FBI. 

According to Deadline, Janine Sherman Barrois, creator of Kings of Napa and Claws, teams up with Winning Time creator Jim Hecht to create the series together; a story based on a Playboy article by author Joshuah Bearman. The article details how celebrity radicals at the time helped Newton escape murder charges and make it out of the country safe and alive.

André Holland, star of Moonlight, is in talks to play The Big Cigar himself (that's Newton) as of right now.

Don Cheadle, who has also been a big player in the long development life of the series, is on board to direct and executive produce the first two episodes. Janine Sherman Barrois will serve as showrunner and executive producer overall.

The Big Cigar is being produced by Warner Bros. Television for Apple TV, and if it's anything like their other shows - or like other shows touched by Barrois - it's sure to be a slam dunk.

Stay tuned in to news from Enstarz for more details on this project as they emerge.

Tags: Janine Sherman Barrois Don Cheadle Jim Hecht andre holland