NFL Legends in Talks to Join Football Thriller Red Crown
Ricky Williams, Cris Carter, Marcedes Lewis and Calvin Johnson are in talks to join Red Crown, a football-themed thriller with a hidden league at its centre. Deadline reported the talks as an exclusive on 15 September 2026. In talks is industry language for negotiations that are under way but have not yet closed into signed deals.
Red Crown is a working title, a temporary name used while a film moves through development. The film is being written and directed by Diamond Batiste, with Braxten Smith co-writing the script. Deadline carried those credits in the same exclusive report.
The story centres on a secret underground football empire operating beneath Los Angeles. It is described as a thriller, a story built around tension and high stakes. Production is scheduled to begin this fall. With the calendar at 15 September 2026, that points to a shoot in the coming months.
Don Benjamin and Shawn Meaike are starring in the film. Starring here means they hold the leading roles announced so far. The four football names remain in negotiations. No roles were disclosed.
Red Crown hails from Black Forge Productions. It is the company's second feature, the second film it has taken into production. Black Forge was launched by Batiste, Benjamin and Meaike to develop commercially driven independent films. Independent, in this context, means films made outside the major studio system, usually with smaller teams and tighter organisation.
The film is being made in association with StoryBridge Entertainment and Chaparral Films, a structure in which other companies support the lead outfit. Louis Tocchet, Eleanor Nett and Don Benjamin are producing. Shawn Meaike is executive-producing, a senior credit usually tied to finance or creative oversight rather than daily management on set. Tocchet and Nett are producing under their Chaparral Films banner, according to Deadline.
For fans, this means familiar faces from professional football could soon line up on a film set rather than a field. Real players know locker rooms and late-game pressure from the inside. Until deals close, the line-up stays provisional.
