Netflix is offering another new sports docuseries, and this one will attempt the seemingly impossible: make sailing exciting and emphatic to hundreds of millions of people when they launch UNTOLD: Race of the Century.
Audiences were thrilled by the hectic world of Formula 1 when Drive to Survive premiered, and the appetite for interest in sport is being truly tested with Race of the Century. Following a group of Australian underdogs in their quest to dethrone the New York Yacht Club’s 132-year winning streak in the America’s Cup, the documentary sees the seamen recount the epic tale in their own words.
The 1983 America’s Cup lives large in the consciousness of a generation of Australians, and the episode will undoubtedly get people excited for a kind of water sport they’d never traditionally consider. Both the American and Australian crews reunited to tell their side of the story in the fourth episode of Untold’s second season.
Looking to emulate the hype around recent sports documentaries, the most obvious comparisons are the Michael Jordan documentary The Last Dance, as well as Drive to Survive — the latter of which sold the sport to new demographics that they hadn’t previously reached.
Netflix had also produced Sunderland ‘Til I Die, which similarly looked at the much more human interest side of the sport and delved into the psyche of sportspeople and fans. Perhaps when Stranger Things finally ends, the streaming giant will already be in good shape to produce and grab a stranglehold over sport instead?
Race of the Century will set sail for streaming seas on Sept. 6, exclusively on Netflix. Episode one of UNTOLD Vol. 2, The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist, is out now, with new episodes arriving weekly, concluding with Race of the Century.
Published: Aug 17, 2022 01:44 am