ESPN Films Sets Gracie Family Docuseries, Guy Ritchie Among Executive Producers (EXCLUSIVE)

ESPN Films is working on a docuseries about the legendary Gracie family, Variety has learned exclusively.

Titled “Gracie,” the series will delve deep into the family’s history and dissect how they became the founders of Brazilian jiu jitsu, which serves as a major cornerstone of modern mixed martial arts (MMA).

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The official description of the series states: “Featuring larger-than-life personalities, triumphs and tragedies, deep loyalties, passionate loves and deadly feuds, ‘Gracie’ will explore the essence of family, honor, legacy, and humanity’s innate desire to fight. Told through the eyes of key Gracie family members, the series will dive deep into an epic family saga that takes audiences from Scotland and Japan, to Brazil and America.”

The series is directed by Chris Fuller (“Loren Cass”) and is executive produced by ESPN Films. The project is being produced by Solaris Entertainment. Gregory O’Connor (“Warrior,” “Miracle”), Nanette Burstein (“On The Ropes,” “Hillary”), Guy Ritchie (“Snatch,” “Sherlock Holmes”) and Ivan Atkinson (“Wrath of Man,” “The Gentlemen”) are serving as executive producers along with Micah Green, Daniel Steinman and Trevor Groth of 30WEST.

Further details on the project will be announced at a later date.

The Gracies and Brazilian jiu jitsu burst into popular culture when Royce Gracie won three of the first four UFC tournaments in the early 1990s. Despite weighing less than 180 pounds, Royce was able to use his skills on the mat to submit much larger opponents, including fellow UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock. Since then, with the massive rise in popularity of the UFC and MMA in general, fighters the world over now train in Brazilian jiu jitsu.

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