In a "historic deal" for a documentary, Netflix has landed “Icarus,” a "buzzy examination" of the Russian doping scandal, according to Lang & Setoodeh of VARIETY. The $5M pact is "one of the biggest ever for a non-fiction film." Bidding for the film was "intense from almost the moment it premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival." There were "several interested studios circling the project at various points," including Sony Pictures Classics, Neon, Magnolia and Amazon. The film "contained a killer pitch," and was described by its PR team as "a movie that kicks off in the mold of Morgan Spurlock" (Super Size Me), but "ends up in the tradition of Laura Poitras" (Citizenfour). To investigate doping in sports, Dir Bryan Fogel, an amateur bike racer, "decided to dope himself to see if it would strengthen his endurance." To do so, "he connected with a renegade Russian scientist, Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov." Fogel said, "This has been an intense three and a half year personal journey that exposed the biggest scandal in sports history." Netflix will "give the film an awards push and will release it simultaneously on its streaming service across 190 countries." Impact Partners backed the film (VARIETY, 1/24).
