Sydney Poitier. Diana Ross. Bill Cosby. Hank Aaron.

These are just a few of the many celebrities who, along with hundreds of celebrities, journalists and civil rights activists, entered the Atlanta Municipal Auditorium on October 26, 1970, to attend what would become the comeback for then-disgraced boxer Muhammad Ali. It was Ali’s return to the ring after being banned from the sport for more than three years because of his refusal to join the draft and his opposition to the Vietnam War.

And while the historic fight with Jerry Quarry helped revive Ali’s career and put Atlanta in the spotlight as a “black man’s mecca,” it also ushered in one of the most brazen, if not darkest, robberies in the country’s history.

The episodes form the basis for the new miniseries “Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist,” which was filmed in Atlanta and premieres on Peacock on Thursday.

The eight-part historical crime drama stars Kevin Hart, Taraji P. Henson and Samuel L. Jackson. Hart plays Gordon “Chicken Man” Williams, a crook who decides to throw a lavish casino after-party with a who’s who of celebrities and underground criminals.

After news of the event spreads among locals hungry for their piece of the pie, thieves storm into the event armed and leave with $1 million worth of cash and jewelry.

Chicken Man immediately becomes the target and the prime suspect in the crime, and must rely on the help of Atlanta detective and long-time consultant JD Hudson (Don Cheadle) to help him clear his name.

The miniseries is based on the 2020 podcast of the same name. Producers Jeff Keating and Kenny Burns originally proposed the concept as a feature film several years ago.

At the top of their list for the project was Will Packer, a longtime Atlanta resident who used the city as a main character in the box office hits “Ride Along,” “No Good Deed” and “Little.”

“I said, ‘Wait a minute, Muhammed Ali was banned from boxing at the time and refused to go to Vietnam… he came and participated in an unsanctioned boxing match in Atlanta that attracted the attention of celebrities, athletes and gangsters from all over the country…'” said Packer, who was unaware of the crime before the pitch.

“It writes itself, it’s unbelievable.”

Packer described the project as a “love letter to Atlanta” and brought in writer and Atlanta resident Shaye Ogbonna to help bring the story from the podcast to the screen.

Ogbonna, who was inspired not only by the podcast but also by television series such as “The Wire,” said that doing his own research allowed him to “hear the voices” of his characters.

“I went into the house and looked at the basement. I talked to people in the community. I talked to my own relatives and friends and people who were connected,” said the miniseries creator and showrunner. “It helped me do a lot of the work I needed to do in terms of building the world.”

One aspect he wanted to focus on, but which was largely missing from the podcast, were the stories of the robbers and attackers involved.

“Many of the people involved in the robbery were citizens,” he said. “Whether it’s the dealers, the dealers, the government or the police, it was important to me that we show that the entire community is involved in this particular story.”

Although he typically enjoys telling stories set in Atlanta from a modern-day perspective, Packer said that making the miniseries created a certain “sense of anxiety and fear.”

“They want to do it right,” he said.

“You have to be really authentic because the audience today is very selective. They have access to information and are very demanding. They say: ‘That’s not what the tables looked like in the ’70s. Er-er. That’s not it!'”

While most of the interior shots were filmed at Assembly Studios in Doraville, the production also traveled to some of the real-life locations of the events, including the house in Collier Heights where the robbery took place and the Hyatt Regency Atlanta.

The experiences from filming and developing “Fight Night” have reinforced Packer’s decision to keep his production company based in Atlanta.

“I love Atlanta’s amazing mix of cultures, personalities and people from all over the world,” he said. “This is a story about real black Atlanta in the ’70s. There are many stories like this and others (to be told).”

“Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist” premieres Thursday on Peacock.