Netflix, bulking up its documentary portfolio, has acquired worldwide rights to Mike Fleiss‘ “The Other One: The Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir,” about the legendary Grateful Dead co-founder, songwriter, guitarist and vocalist.
The docu is set to debut exclusively on Netflix on Friday, May 22, in all territories in which the streamer operates.
“The Other One” — an allusion to the fact that Jerry Garcia was the most prominent member of the Dead, who died in 1995 — comes from helmer Fleiss (“The Bachelor,” “Hostel”), producer Marc Weingarten (“God Bless Ozzy Osbourne”) and exec producers Martin Hilton (“The Bachelor”) and Justin Kreutzmann (“In the Attic With Pete Townshend & Friends”).
The docu’s title also is a nod to the Dead’s four-part suite “That’s It for the Other One,” released on the band’s 1968 album “Anthem of the Sun.”
The film debuted at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival and subsequently won the audience award at the 2014 San Francisco International Film Festival. “The Other One” chronicles Weir’s journey from his youth in Palo Alto, Calif., to becoming a global superstar as a member of one of the world’s most influential and popular bands. The pic focuses on his partnership with Garcia and includes musical performances and archival footage, as well as interviews with Dead bandmates, colleagues, fans, family and Weir himself.
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“Mike Fleiss was given unprecedented access to create an intimate and compelling film about one of the most prolific, respected and beloved musicians of our time,” said Lisa Nishimura, Netflix VP of original documentary and comedy. “We are proud to bring Bob’s story to his fans around the world on the eve of the Dead’s final shows at Soldier Field in Chicago.”
Added Fleiss: “We certainly unearthed a lot of buried treasure from the Grateful Dead archive while making this film… With Netflix, we have found the perfect global partner to tell the fascinating life story of Bob Weir set against the backdrop of America’s greatest rock band.”
Other Netflix documentary acquisitions include “What Happened, Miss Simone?”; “Virunga,” about threats to endangered gorillas in the Virunga National Park in the eastern Congo, which earned an Oscar nomination; foodie docu-series “Chef’s Table”; as well as “E-Team,” “Mission Blue,” “The Battered Bastards of Baseball,” “Print the Legend,” “Brave Miss World” and “The Square,” an Oscar-nominated film about political unrest in Egypt.
Last month, Netflix announced a pact with Leonardo DiCaprio for documentary and docu-series projects as part of an exclusive multiyear, first-look deal. DiCaprio was an executive producer on Grain Media’s “Virunga.”
