LeBron James is on a winning streak. Then again, it’s probably safe to say that LeBron James is usually on a winning streak. In addition to being the most popular basketball player in the NBA — at least if we’re going by the number of jerseys sold with his name on the back — he’s also blazing a trail at the summer box office as the star and producer of Space Jam: A New Legacy. And while fans are already wondering and waiting if there will be a Space Jam 3 — former NBA star Baron Davis told The New York Times that he was ready to offer his services as director — The Hollywood Reporter writes that LeBron has already chosen his next cinematic endeavor: Rez Ball, a basketball drama set around a Native American reservation, for Netflix.
According to THR:
Rez Ball is described as Friday Night Lights meets Hoosiers. The story, according to the project’s description, “follows the Chuska Warriors, a Native American high school basketball team from Chuska, New Mexico, that must band together after losing their star player if they want to keep their quest for a state championship alive. It’s an all-American underdog story about Navajo kids and coaches told from the inside-out.”
Award-winning director Sydney Freeland (Drunktown’s Finest) will helm the project, which she’ll also co-write with Sterlin Harjo—co-creator, with Taika Waititi, of the new FX series Reservation Dogs. The script will be based on sports columnist’s article-turned-book Canyon Dreams, which is a unique exploration of the world of “reservation basketball.”
“Basketball on the Rez is like high school football in West Texas,” says Freeland, who was raised on a Navajo reservation in New Mexico. “It has a fanatical following that few sports can rival. This is a story that’s commonplace on Indian reservations all over the U.S., but most people aren’t even aware it exists. What we want to do is bring people into our world, to tell a story about the people and places we know, and what better way to do that than through a sports movie?”
James and Maverick Carter will produce for Netflix through their SpringHill Company. No release date has been announced.
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)