Steven Soderbergh’s ‘High Flying Bird’ Premiering At Slamdance Before Hitting Netflix In February

We’ve been wondering when Netflix was going to premiere the latest film from Steven Soderbergh, titled “High Flying Bird.” Outside of a plot description, word surrounding the film has been limited to the fact that Soderbergh finished the film a while ago and Netflix would get around to distributing it in 2019. But thanks to a new announcement from the Slamdance Film Festival, we not only know when select audiences will get a sneak preview of the film, but also when Netflix is releasing the film globally.

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Slamdance just announced that Steven Soderbergh would be honored at the upcoming 2019 film festival with the Founders Award. This award is “given to a Slamdance alumnus who has continued to represent the Slamdance organization and support the filmmaker community of Slamdance well into their careers.” The award has been given to esteemed filmmakers such as Christopher Nolan and most recently, Joe and Anthony Russo. But the award is just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.

You see, along with the award is news that Soderbergh’s latest film “High Flying Bird” will be screened at the festival that begins in late-January. In addition to that, the festival has a brief blurb in their press release that states, “‘High Flying Bird’ will launch globally on Friday, February 8, 2019 on Netflix.”

So there you go, fans of Soderbergh can pencil in February 8th as a date to watch out for. We’re still unsure if Netflix has addition theatrical plans for the film. However, as this is not expected to be a typical awards contender (the filmmaker is expected to release “The Laundromat” later in 2019, which Netflix will position as one of its Oscar hopefuls, more than likely), it’s unclear as to whether or not “High Flying Bird” will get an extensive theatrical run.

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For those not familiar with the film, “High Flying Bird” stars André Holland, Zazie Beetz, Melvin Gregg, Sonja Sohn, Zachary Quinto, Kyle MacLachlan, and Bill Duke. The film follows a sports agent (Holland) that attempts to lure his famous rookie professional basketball client into a less-than-savory side deal as the NBA is in a lockout, preventing the players from earning a salary.

Now, it appears that 2019 is going to start with a hell of a bang, with the latest Soderbergh film hitting Netflix on February 8, 2019.