HBO has acquired North American TV and streaming rights to U.S. soccer legend Megan Rapinoe doc, “Rapinoe,” TheWrap has learned.
The film, directed by Rebecca Huntt, opened the Toronto International Film Festival’s documentary section on Thursday.
Speaking with TheWrap at TIFF, Rapinoe and Huntt explained their approach to the project. They both agreed early on that they wanted things to feel different from other coverage of Rapinoe’s career. The athlete knew that after years of being interviewed, about her performances on the pitch and her activism off of it, that that difference came in the time that the pair spent together and being “prompted in the right way.”
“The questions were different,” Rapinoe said. “That was the big thing. I was crying the first time that we talked. As soon as we met, we both wanted something different, and to go to a different level and talk about my career and my life in the ways that mattered to us the most. I know for me personally, I don’t think the best things that I’ve ever done and the most important things are what I’ve done on the field. And I feel like for Rebecca, she looked at me and said, ‘OK, that’s the vehicle, but like there’s other stuff here that I’m interested in,’ and so right away I think we connected on that.”
In his review of the film, TheWrap contributor Chase Hutchinson wrote: “’Rapinoe,’ Rebeca Huntt’s revealing portrait of the athlete and activist Megan Rapinoe, is not like other celebrity documentaries. Where other such films can feel as if they are being swallowed up by the fame of their subjects, finding only shallow insights outside of what we already know from the carefully curated image they put forth, this one dives headfirst into the tension and the complexity of its subject.”
The Hollywood Reporter first reported on the acquisition.
The post HBO Acquires Megan Rapinoe Doc ‘Rapinoe’ After TIFF Premiere appeared first on TheWrap.
