'High Flying Bird' Trailer: Steven Soderbergh Tries To Take Down The NBA In New Netflix Movie
Director Steven Soderbergh was "retired" once, but those days are long in the past. Now, he has a new working relationship at Netflix that is kicking off with his latest film, a sports drama that threatens to break the system that is professional basketball.
High Flying Bird follows sports agent Ray Burke (André Holland) as he sets out on some kind of bold plan to take down the NBA as we know it and put control of the game back in the hands of those who play it. Watch the High Flying Bird trailer below.
High Flying Bird Trailer
This trailer is incredibly intriguing, mostly because of the suspense it builds around a plan that we don't fully understand yet. It dances around the idea of how this sports agent will upend the system that keeps team owners rich and players under their control, but Soderbergh's style makes this feel like a different kind of heist than the one he tackled in Ocean's 11. It's almost like a bridge between that franchise and that political series K Street he did back in 2003, with a little bit of Ballers thrown in there.
Even more intriguing is the fact that this is now the second film Steven Soderbergh has shot on an iPhone. While there are a few shots in the trailer that definitely look like they were shot on a smartphone, general audiences would never know otherwise. I wonder how much shooting on an iPhone saves on the cost of production.
The rest of the High Flying Bird cast includes Zazie Beetz, Melvin Gregg, Sonja Sohn, Zachary Quinto, Kyle MacLachlan and Bill Duke, all working from a script by Moonlight writer Tarell Alvin McCraney. Also, sports fans will want to keep an eye out for appearances from real NBA stars like Reggie Jackson, Karl-Anthony Towns and Donovan Mitchell.
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.
High Flying Bird hits Netflix on February 8, 2019.