Phil Lord & Chris Miller Will Chronicle Dennis Rodman's Wild 48 Hours In Vegas

Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the filmmakers behind projects like "21 Jump Street," "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs," "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse," and "The Last Man on Earth," have found a new producing gig.

Lionsgate has won the rights to distribute "48 Hours in Vegas," a film about the whirlwind period of time during the Chicago Bulls' 1998 NBA championship run in which Dennis Rodman took a trip to Las Vegas in the middle of the playoffs to blow off some steam. Lord and Miller will produce alongside Aditya Sood, the head of their production company, while Jordan VanDina, the writer of Hulu's "The Binge," the new "Animaniacs" series, and a delightfully titled upcoming film called "Cocaine Hippos," will write the screenplay.

48 Hours In Vegas

Here's how the official press release describes "48 Hours in Vegas":

Picture it: Las Vegas, Nevada. 1998. The NBA Finals are in full swing. The Chicago Bulls are on the verge of completing their second threepeat in eight years. And Dennis Rodman, a groundbreaking cultural presence on and off the court and the team's iconoclastic future Hall of Famer, defensive specialist and rebounding genius, has just bravely told coach Phil Jackson that he needs 48 hours in Vegas. Naturally it is a request that Jackson honors.

Inspired by two whirlwind mythic days in Sin City, Lionsgate's 48 Hours in Vegas will take audiences on Rodman's madcap adventure with his skittish assistant GM and will detail a budding friendship that neither one of them ever thought was possible but will end up solving both of their problems.

I'm picturing the Russell Brand-led comedy "Get Him to the Greek," but far more insane -- and based on true events. But while you might expect this film to be nothing but debauchery and chaos, Lord and Miller imply that there's more to it than its catchy hook:

"Dennis refused to follow the herd. That is what made him a target and it's also what made him a star. His weekend in Las Vegas is full of fun and hijinks but it is also full of important questions about the way public figures, and workers are treated, especially when their individuality is expressed so vividly."

After watching the ESPN/Netflix documentary series "The Last Dance," which touches on this wild period in Rodman's life and career, I am super interested in seeing what a Lord and Miller-produced movie does with this story -- and I'm even more interested now that I know it will be exploring some deeper cultural and societal issues instead of just relying on surface-level revelry. No director or release date have been announced yet, but we'll keep you posted with more when we learn it.

Read this next: 'The Last Dance' Director Jason Hehir Had To Shape 10,000 Hours Of Footage Into A 10-Hour Series [Interview]

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