Halle Berry Just Signed A Massive Deal With Netflix
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While Halle Berry is an Oscar-winning actress, it’s also her skills behind the camera that has caught Netflix’s attention in a big way. Her directorial debut — the sports drama Bruised — premiered on Netflix last week and the streamer was clearly impressed with the result. News broke earlier today that Berry has signed a deal to make more movies for Netflix in the near future.
The news comes from Deadline, who reports Netflix made the deal with Halle Berry in the wake of Bruised‘s incredible success among streaming audiences. The site reports that the film has been watched a staggering 47.7 million hours within the first five days of its release. It quickly earned the #1 Netflix film slot, likewise hitting #1 in 20 other countries, and reaching #2 on Netflix’s Global English Film list. Unsurprisingly, the streamer responded by hammering out a deal with Berry for her to produce and star in more films. Deadline did not provide hard numbers on the deal however, nor is there any word on whether or not Berry plans to get back in the director’s chair for more Netflix features.
Bruised stars Halle Berry as Jackie Justice, a disgraced MMA fighter. While her life doesn’t seem to be going anywhere early in the film, she finds the will to crawl her way back toward the top after she’s reunited with her son. Bruised includes a pair of creative firsts — not only is it Berry’s directorial debut, but it was also the screenwriting debut of Michelle Rosenfarb.
In spite of its streaming success, Bruised hasn’t proven to be a champ among reviewers. The sports drama currently has an unimpressive 50% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with no audience score yet compiled. Johnny Oleksinski of the New York Post insists the “only reason you like this hot mess of a person is that it’s [Halle Berry] who plays her.” Daniel M. Kimmel of North Shore Movies hopes that Berry will “find a better script or even write one herself” next time, while Polygon‘s Roxana Hadadi laments the actress’ “continuously tragic mode” in the film. But can you — one might ask — argue with 47.7 million hours of viewing in five days?
Halle Berry’s next big film promises to be a lot different from Bruised. Berry will star as NASA executive and former astronaut Jo Fowler in next year’s sci-fi disaster epic Moonfall. Directed by Roland Emmerich — the same filmmaker who brought us Independence Day — Moonfall will find Berry teaming up with Patrick Wilson (Aquaman) and John Bradley (Game of Thrones) to find out why Earth’s Moon is crashing into the very planet it orbits. Due in theaters in February 2022, Moonfall will also star Michael Peña, Donald Sutherland, Charlie Plummer, Wenwen Yu, and Eme Ikwuakor.
After Moonfall, Halle Berry is staying in the world of science fiction, though this time the threat comes from her own home. In The Mothership, Berry will star as Sara Morse whose life turns upside-down when her husband disappears without explanation. Written and directed by Matt Chairman — the Oscar-nominated writer of 2015’s Bridge of Spies — The Mothership is set to release next year on Netflix.
