One of the premier titles at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival comes from Halle Berry, making her directorial debut with “Bruised.” Even before the film was selected as part of TIFF, the buzz surrounding the film was building, thanks to Berry’s star power and the fact that the actress stars in the film as well as being behind the camera. Well, now that the film is being unveiled, it appears that Netflix is opening up its checkbook and shelling out a huge sum to make sure the streaming platform is the exclusive home of “Bruised.”
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According to Variety, Netflix is in negotiations currently to land “Bruised” for a total that is reportedly right around $20 million. Yes, that’s a monster number for any film, let alone a directorial debut. But “Bruised” isn’t a normal directorial debut feature, and we are living in dire times in terms of new content. So, congratulations Halle Berry, you just hit the Netflix jackpot.
“Bruised” tells the story of Jackie “Justice,” a washed-up MMA fighter that is putting it all on the line to redeem herself as a fighter and as a mother. Justice’s story comes to a head when she is tricked into joining an underground, bare-knuckle fight, which reignites her passion for the sport. However, things become even more complicated when a son that she abandoned shows up on her doorstep, forcing her to reckon with traumas in her past.
As mentioned, $20 million for any movie coming out of a festival is huge news. However, it’s not all that surprising given the status of the film industry, as it begins to recover from the pandemic forcing everything to shut down for more than 5 months. That means Netflix, like almost every other studio, is looking for content and needs to make sure there are enough high-profile films in the can so that there’s no long stretch where the platform fails to have a new shiny object to wave around and attract subscribers. And in that sense, $20 million is a steal for Netflix, a studio that is willing to spend 10x that number for a new film (as we saw with the Russos’ upcoming feature).
“Bruised” is expected to premiere tomorrow at TIFF, and the deal with Netflix is still not finalized. So, it’s unclear when we might see the feature arrive online. But if buzz continues to build, perhaps Netflix can figure out how to put “Bruised” in this year’s awards conversation.
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