Netflix has acquired the global rights to director Theo Love’s documentary feature “The Legend of Cocaine Island.”
The film, previously titled “White Tide: The Legend of Culebra,” earned high praise after it premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival.
In “The Legend of Cocaine Island,” a small-business owner and family man comes across the legend of a buried stash of cocaine worth $2 million hidden in the Caribbean. Having been wiped out during the Great Recession, he hatches a plan to retrieve the buried loot, using the talents of a band of colorful misfits. But without prior drug-running experience, trouble (and laughter) ensues.
“We didn’t set out to make a documentary in the traditional sense. We wanted to make a movie. A big fat, entertaining movie.” said Love. “I grew up thinking documentaries had to be boring, stuffy, educational films, but then I got my Netflix subscription. Netflix changed the game for docs in every way, and we’re thrilled to add to their collection of true stories.”
“The Legend of Cocaine Island” is produced by Bryan Storkel and Love, executive produced by Brian Knappenberger, Jeff Goldstein, Tom Love and Nate Larson, and stars Rodney Hyden as himself. The acquisition was handled by Josh Braun and Ben Braun of Submarine Entertainment.
Popular on Variety
“With this film we had one goal in mind,” Storkel said. “Entertain audiences on a large scale. Netflix was the buyer we had in mind from the beginning, and partnering with them to reach over 130 million people is a dream come true.”
Love’s directorial debut, “Little Hope Was Arson,” was curated by PBS’ Independent Lens.
The documentary will launch on Netflix in 2019. Love is repped by CAA, Grandview, and Ziffren Brittenham.
