James R | On 17, Jan 2019

Steven Soderbergh is heading to Netflix this February, and we’ve now got our first glimpse of what that looks like, with the trailer for his new sports movie, High Flying Bird.

André Holland stars in the drama, which follows sports agent Ray Burke, who, in the midst of a pro basketball lockout, 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 Soderbergh from a script by Academy Award winner Tarell Alvin McCraney (Moonlight), the film features an impressive 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.

You can see them all in action on Friday 8th February, when the movie premieres on Netflix. Until then, here’s the trailer:

 

High Flying Bird is available on Netflix UK, as part of an £9.99 monthly subscription.

 

Netflix nabs rights to Soderbergh’s High Flying Bird

12th September 2018

Netflix has nabbed the rights to High Flying Birds, the latest film from Steven Soderbergh.

The movie, which is directed by the Unsane, Logan Lucky and Magic Mike helmer, is penned by Tarell Alvin McCraney, the Academy Award winning writer of Moonlight. It reunites McCraney with one of the stars of Barry Jenkins’ drama, André Holland, who is currently wowing Londoners on the stage opposite Mark Rylance in Othello at Shakespeare’s Globe. Holland will be joined by Zazie Beetz, Melvin Gregg, Sonja Sohn, Zachary Quinto, Kyle MacLachlan and Bill Duke.

Holland is also an executive producer through his shingle Harper Road Films, alongside Ken Meyer (Unsane, Logan Lucky). Joseph Malloch (Unsane) is on board as producer.

The film follows a sports agent, who, during a pro basketball lockout, pitches a rookie basketball client on an intriguing and controversial business proposition.

Netflix saw off strong competition from multiple players to secure the drama as a Netflix Original, but Soderbergh, who shot his last film on an iPhone, is no stranger to new technology, distribution methods or other such innovations.

“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,” says Soderbergh, adding, tellingly, that it’s “the perfect way for me to begin my relationship with Netflix as a director”.

Netflix will release the film globally in 2019.

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