Terrence Howard has landed the lead role in Lee Daniels’ collaboration with his The Butler writer, Danny Strong, and super producer Brian Grazer – a hip hop drama series titled Empire, which is set up at FOX TV.

The project, which reportedly sparked a bidding war among the 4 major broadcast networks last year, received a pilot commitment from FOX, and is described as a drama about a family-run hip-hop empire.

Danny Strong and Daniels are co-writing the pilot script, which Daniels will direct, with Strong, Daniels, Grazer and Francie Calfo executive producing. 

Howard will play a Lucious Lyon, a charismatic, but tough chief of a record label titled Empire Entertainment, which is on the verge of an IPO.

No stranger to TV, Howard most recently was a series regular on NBC’s short-lived Law & Order spin-off, Law & Order: LA. Up next, he’s also joined the cast M. Night Shyamalan’s Wayward Pines, which is also set up at FOX TV, and is set for a July debut.