Jay Z will produce an NBC drama about Nicholas Irving — the first African-American to serve as a special ops sniper in his battalion, and the US Army 3rd Ranger Battalion’s deadliest sniper.
Hot off his Emmy win for “The People v O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story,” Sterling K. Brown — who currently appears in “This Is Us” — will star as Irving, who was nicknamed “the Reaper” and was such an effective sniper, he had an AR-15 rifle named after him.
The six-hour miniseries is based on Irving’s 2015 memoir, “The Reaper: Autobiography of One of the Deadliest Special Ops Snipers.”
A source tells us, “The series will take a look inside the life of the world of special ops. The plan is to start filming early next year.”
During a four-month period in mid-2009, Irving tallied an astounding 33 kills as a master sniper.
The rights to the book were picked up by the Weinstein Company, who just announced a first-look deal with Jay Z.
Reps for Weinstein and NBC didn’t comment.
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