‘King Shaka’: Charles Babalola To Star In Title Role Of Showtime Series From Antoine Fuqua, 4 Others Cast
deadline.comEXCLUSIVE: The Outlaws star Charles Babalola is set to headline Showtime’s King Shaka, (fka Shaka: King of the Zulu Nation), executive produced by Antoine Fuqua.Babalola will play the title role in the epic drama series, centered around one man’s personal journey from stigmatized childhood to warrior king, which hails from writers Olu Odebunmi and Tolu Awosika, Propagate, Fuqua Films and CBS Studios.
Production kicks off next month in the historic KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) South Africa province, the birthplace of King Shaka, and will be fully shot in South Africa for a 2023 debut on Showtime.Also cast as series regulars in King Shaka are Aïssa Maïga (The Fear Index) as Nandi, Shaka’s devoted mother who will sacrifice everything to fulfill her son’s destiny; and Thando Dlomo (The Woman King) as Pampatha, a herder who finds her fate forever entwined with Shaka’s. Thapelo Mokoena (Bulletproof) will guest star as Gendeyana, a Qwabe leader who grows close to Shaka and Nandi, along with Warren Masemola (Queen Sono) as Magazwa, who provides safe haven to Shaka and Nandi but at a cost.Rooted in actual events, King Shaka tells the story of the Zulu Empire founder Shaka (Babalola) and his unlikely rise to power, uniting multiple tribes across vast stretches of southern Africa in the early 19th century to transform his power into legend, on par with history’s most seminal figures.
The outcast son of a Zulu Chief, Shaka is a visionary who is prophesized to become a king like none before him. In ferocious battles that test the body and soul, in alliances that test the bonds of love and friendship, a complex sociological system plays out that renders the human cost front and center, for the victors as well as the vanquished, all in an
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