On Wednesday, Netflix released a trailer for their long-awaited Bill Russell film, announced last year..
The company also announced a release date for the two-part documentary, called Bill Russell: Legend: Wednesday, February 8th.
Here’s the trailer.
https://youtu.be/ryHHifvsVwQ
Here’s the synopsis from Netflix’s release.
The remarkable life and legacy of an NBA superstar and civil rights icon is captured in the documentary Bill Russell: Legend. This two-part film from award-winning director Sam Pollard (MLK/FBI, Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power) features the last interview with Bill prior to his passing in 2022 as well as access to his sprawling personal archives. On the court, Russell went on to lead each and every one of his basketball teams to championships” two back-to-back NCAA titles, a gold medal at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games, and 11 championship titles in his thirteen-year career as a Boston Celtic (his last two as the first Black head coach in NBA history). Off the court Russell was a force in the fight for human rights” marching with Martin Luther King Jr., leading boycotts in the NBA over racist practices and speaking out against segregation” efforts which earned him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Narrated by actors Jeffrey Wright and Corey Stoll and featuring exclusive interviews with the icon’s family and friends as well as Steph Curry, Chris Paul, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Jim Brown and more, Bill Russell: Legend illuminates the ways in which Russell stood tall in every sense of the word.
As mentioned in that synopsis, Corey Stoll and Jeffrey Wright narrate the film, while those interviewed include Steph Curry, Chris Paul, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Jim Brown.
Based on that trailer, I’m pretty optimistic about this. It seems like there is plenty of archival footage and lots of interviews included, which are two major selling points for us when it comes to sports docs. Maybe Netflix can do more than just behind the scenes sports docs after all.
[Netflix]
