Fresh off her directorial debut with Bruised, which has earned her raves for her highly committed performance, Halle Berry has inked a multi-film deal with Netflix. The news comes as Bruised has topped the streaming charts for the platform.
Bruised quickly landed on the streamer’s number one film of the week slot in the U.S., and has charted at number two on its Top 10 Global English Film List. Bruised hit the top spot in a total of 21 countries and was watched for 47.7 million hours in its first five days. It made its world premiere at the 2020 Toronto Film Festival where Netflix acquired it for a pretty hefty sum. The film was released in select theaters on November 17, before making its way to the streamer on November 24th. Berry had this to say about the success of Bruised and her new deal with Netflix:
“My directorial debut, Bruised, was a labor of love and I knew that Scott [Stuber] and Ted [Sarandos] would treat it with great care. The Netflix team has not only been collaborative and creative, but extremely passionate and a delight to work with. I am beyond grateful for the partnership and look forward to telling more stories together.”
Bruised was written by first-time feature writer Michelle Rosenfarb and follows Jackie Justice (Berry), a disgraced MMA fighter who finds redemption in the cage and the courage to face her demons when the son she had given up as an infant unexpectedly reenters her life. The film has received mixed reviews from critics (49% rotten on Rotten Tomatoes), mostly because it dabbles in sports movie cliches but even the more harsh reviews have praised Berry’s performance, citing it as one of her strongest turns in years. Scott Stuber, who serves as Head of Global Film at Netflix, had this to say about joining forces with Berry on Bruised and future projects:
“There are few people with a career like Halle Berry. She’s an award winning actress, producer and as audiences saw this past week, she’s an incredible director. We’re thrilled to be in her corner as she delivers power in front of and behind the camera in Bruised and look forward to telling more stories together.”
Outside of her new deal with Netflix, Berry will soon be seen in two upcoming features from the platform, including writer-director Matt Charman’s sci-fi film The Mothership—which she is also executive producing—and the action film Our Man From Jersey, in which she stars alongside Mark Wahlberg. She will also soon be seen in Roland Emmerich’s sci-fi film Moonfall, which is set for release in theaters on February 4, 2022.
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