LeBron James' production company working on new History Channel documentary on Jim Thorpe

LeBron James' production company is planning a new History Channel documentary on iconic Oklahoma Native American athlete Jim Thorpe that will be helmed by an acclaimed Indigenous director.

The History Channel has announced plans to expand its partnership with the NBA superstar and Maverick Carter’s SpringHill Company and its award-winning studio team with the order of three new documentaries.

The three-part deal will prioritize largely unknown historical stories that put diverse changemakers at the forefront of each narrative, according to a news release.

The first two projects will focus on iconic 20th-century American athletes.

New deal also will include a documentary on iconic athlete Jesse Owens

The first documentary will be a two-hour film with the working title “Triumph: Jesse Owens and the Berlin Olympics."

Narrated by Oscar-nominated actor Don Cheadle, the film will spotlight Owens’ historic triumph over Nazi Germany during the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Three years before the beginning of World War II, Owens, a renowned African American track and field athlete, made Olympic history by winning four gold medals: in the 100-meter dash, long jump, 200-meter dash and 4x100-meter relay. This feat made him arguably one of the greatest and most impactful athletes of all time, especially since he achieved it during the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, against an ugly backdrop of swastikas, poisonous discrimination and goose-stepping storm troopers.

“Triumph: Jesse Owens and the Berlin Olympics” will delve into Owen’s athletic dedication and victory over Hitler’s Aryan supremacy agenda. It will blend archival footage, animation and interviews with journalists, historians, Owen’s daughters Marlene and Beverly Owens and fellow athletes like former track and field star Carl Lewis and American sprinters Noah Lyles, Erriyon Knighton and Christian Coleman.

The Owens documentary will be directed by two-time Emmy-nominated director Andre Gaines. It will mark the SpringHill Company’s second major collaboration with the History Channel and the filmmaker. It follows the Sports Emmy Award-nominated documentary “After Jackie,” which was produced in association with Major League Baseball and in collaboration with the Jackie Robinson Foundation.

Native filmmaker Chris Eyre to direct Jim Thorpe documentary

Additionally, the expanded partnership includes the development of a new documentary with the working title “Jim Thorpe," about the legendary Olympian whose athletic prowess in baseball, football and basketball established him as one of the greatest athletes of all time.

Born near Prague in Indian Territory — what is now Oklahoma — Thorpe was a member of the Sac and Fox Nation and the first Native American to win a gold medal for the United States in the Olympics.

Along with winning two Olympic golds, Thorpe was named a two-time college football All-American, became a charter member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and played six seasons of Major League Baseball.

The Thorpe documentary will be directed by Cheyenne and Arapaho filmmaker Chris Eyre, best known for his 1998 movie "Smoke Signals," which won the audience award at the Sundance Film Festival, and for the hit AMC series "Dark Winds," which has been renewed for a third season.

The forthcoming third documentary in the newly announced deal between James' production company and the History Channel will be announced at a later date.

“With these documentaries, we want to share those meaningful moments and figures in history that matter with a whole new generation and continue to empower and inspire through storytelling,” James said in a statement.

The first two documentaries are produced for the History Channel by Uninterrupted, the athlete empowerment brand within the SpringHill Company, and Cinemation Studios in association with GroupM Motion Entertainment on “Triumph: Jesse Owens and the Berlin Olympics” and INE Entertainment, Five All in the Fifth and GroupM Motion Entertainment on “Jim Thorpe."

A+E Networks holds worldwide distribution rights to the Owens and Thorpe documentaries. The History Channel is a division of A+E Networks.

The History Channel documentary isn't the only Thorpe project in the works: Tulsa-based filmmaker and "Reservation Dogs" showrunner Sterlin Harjo, who is Muscogee and Seminole, revealed at a recent Oklahoma City event that he is writing a script based on David Maraniss' book "Path Lit by Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: LeBron James' production company working on new Jim Thorpe documentary