HBO Buys Megan Rapinoe Doc, Giving a Big Platform to Outspoken Soccer Legend (Exclusive)

HBO is buying distribution rights to Rapinoe, Rebeca Huntt’s documentary look at the charismatically outspoken U.S. soccer legend, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. The deal recently wrapped for North American TV and streaming rights, according to sources with knowledge of the talks. The movie gives the streaming platform a big star around which to market a documentary as well as a chance to court some political headlines. Rapinoe is of course the longtime Seattle Reign and USWMNT star who won two World Cups and Ballon d’Or but gained even more recognition for her activism. She has fought for everything from equal pay for U.S. women’s soccer players to BLM causes, using her celebrity to shine a light on issues that might otherwise have stayed in the shadows.

For Rapinoe’s part, the HBO slot also will further cement the 41-year-old’s post-career future as a media and public figure. Rapinoe is direct about the responsibility, as she sees it, for athletes to use their platform for social change. “There’s incredible privilege that comes with making a lot of money in sports and being in a profession that’s universally beloved and accepted and lauded,” she told THR before the festival. “And I just think there’s a responsibility that comes with that,” adding “I don’t understand when you have the ability to make a really positive impact in the world and you don’t.” In the film she is seen kneeling during the anthem in the wake of Colin Kaepernick’s decision to do so, even as many MLS teammates and players do not take a knee with Rapinoe. Huntt’s movie, which played to very warm reception at TIFF Thursday night with the star in attendance, is a different creature than other sports docs. Those tend to be more straightforward looks at career ups and downs. This film, in contrast, looks at its star’s fraught coming out story, her political disagreements with her parents and the adulation but often harassment she received for taking progressive social stances. “Megan is so captivating because she’s the kind of person who gives all of herself to everything she does and walks the walk. It seems like that should be basic but it’s extremely rare,” Huntt told THR . Rapinoe added, “I love sports, we all love sports, and it’s fun and makes us feel good and there’s a sense of community. But then it’s like ‘why is that important? What did I do in sports that’s something that can add to the conversation more than the highlight reel?’”

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