Robert Downey Jr with his director-father Robert Downey Sr. (Photo: robertdowneyjr/Instagram)Netflix has announced the acquisition of Sr., a documentary on the life of late Hollywood director Robert Downey Sr. The documentary, which had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival, comes from five-time Emmy nominated director Chris Smith, Netflix said in a press release.
Robert Downey Sr, who was also the father of Hollywood star Robert Downey Jr, was best known for the 1969 satirical comedy Putney Swope. He died in July 2021 at the age of 85 after suffering with Parkinson’s disease for more than five years.
Sr., described as an affectionate tribute to the maverick filmmaker, is produced by Team Downey’s Susan Downey and Robert Downey Jr along with Emily Barclay Ford and Kevin Ford.
According to the documentary’s official logline, the movie is a “lovingly irreverent portrait of the life and career of maverick filmmaker Robert Downey Sr that quickly devolves into a meditation on art, mortality, and healing generational dysfunction”.
It is set to be screened at the New York Film Festival on October 10, 2022 with an encore screening on October 11, 2022, Netflix said.
Sr. will be released on the streaming service’s platform later this year. It is a co-production between Team Downey and Library Films.
“We’re grateful to have Netflix partner with us on this highly personal project. They’re the ideal home for our unconventional, oft absurd, brutally in-depth homage,” Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey said in a joint statement.