Entertainment streaming giant Netflix has won a bidding war for Oscar-nominated director Ava DuVernay’s upcoming documentary on late rapper/activist Nipsey Hussle. The feature-length doc is a co-production between DuVernay’s ARRAY banner and Hussle’s Marathon Films.
According to Deadline, Netflix “picked up the Nipsey film for high eight figures to beat out some deep-pocketed contenders.”
“Apple and Amazon were also thought to have been serious players for the film before the agreement was reached with Netflix,” Complex reported.
DuVernay will produce and direct the film, which is set to begin production soon. This marks DuVernay’s return to documentaries since 2016’s “13th,” which focused on the history of racial inequality in the United States and the justice system.
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Nipsey was fatally shot last March in South L.A. in front of his clothing store. “In just the past few weeks, Nipsey was honored at the Grammy Awards last month in a tribute introduced at the Staples Center and on CBS by DuVernay herself,” Deadline reported.
DuVernary has been on a roll. She inked a $100 million overall deal with Warner Bros Television Group in late 2018. She has a one-hour drama on the Texas oil industry for TNT. Her OWN series “Cherish the Day” just debuted on Oprah Winfrey’s outlet. She garnered an Emmy for “When They See Us” about the Central Park 5. And she has the Rosario Dawson-starring “DMZ” pilot in production for HBO Max. She also directed the 2018 science adventure film “A Wrinkle in Time.”
According to Complex, Nipsey’s estate reached out directly to DuVernay.
