Thank God Steven Soderbergh decided to step out of retirement, huh? After deciding to step back into the director’s chair —though he arguably never left and dove straight into TV— he’s established his own production and distribution company, Fingerprint Releasing, put together “The Knick,” “Mosaic,” “Logan Lucky,” and “Unsane,” and already has several other projects lined up, including a miniseries about Emin Pasha and the highly anticipated “The Laundromat,” a dramatization of the Panama Papers scandal. His next film, however, sees him teaming up with Netflix for the first time: “High Flying Bird.”
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Written by “Moonlight” Oscar winner Tarell Alvin McCraney, the film follows a young sports agent who tries to convince a rookie basketball client to take a controversial offer during an NBA lockout. Andre Holland, who’s worked previously with Soderbergh and McCraney in “The Knick” and “Moonlight,” respectively, stars as Dean alongside the red-hot Zazie Beetz (one of her two films screening at the festival), Melvin Gregg, Sonja Sohn, Zachary Quinto, Kyle MacLachlan, Bill Duke, Jeryl Prescott, and Caleb McLaughlin.
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Here’s the official synopsis:
In the midst of a pro basketball lockout, sports agent Ray Burke (André Holland) finds himself caught in the face-off between the league and the players. His career is on the line, but Ray is playing for higher stakes. With only 72 hours to pull off a daring plan, he outmaneuvers all the power-players as he uncovers a loophole that could change the game forever. The outcome raises questions of who owns the game – and who ought to. Directed by Academy Award winner Steven Soderbergh (Traffic) from a script by Academy Award winner Tarell Alvin McCraney (Moonlight), HIGH FLYING BIRD features an acclaimed ensemble cast that includes Zazie Beetz, Melvin Gregg, Sonja Sohn, Zachary Quinto, Kyle MacLachlan and Bill Duke, plus appearances from NBA athletes Reggie Jackson, Karl-Anthony Towns and Donovan Mitchell.
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Soderbergh is expected to produce “The Laundromat” through Netflix, and spoke highly of the company with regards to “High Flying Bird.” “We had several strong options for distributing High Flying Bird, but to borrow the patois of the movie itself, this deal felt like a slam dunk and the perfect way for me to begin my relationship with Netflix as a director.”
The film is both Netflix’s and Soderbergh’s first foray into the world of sports movies, and it seems to be in the vein of “Moneyball” and “Creed,” where the sport is secondary to the drama surrounding it. Depending on the critical and commercial reaction, it’s within the realm of possibility that the company might push for awards consideration come the end of the year.
“High Flying Bird” premieres at Slamdance on January 27 and will be released on Netflix on February 8. You can watch the trailer below.