Netflix Orders Baseball Doc on the Montreal Expos’ Controversial 2004 Exit From Canada (EXCLUSIVE)
Netflix has picked up an untitled documentary about the Montreal Expos and the events surrounding the Major League Baseball team’s departure in 2004. The doc, which the streamer has confirmed exclusively to Variety, reps Netflix’s next original project out of Canada.
The doc is the first greenlit under Netflix’s new creative partnership with Montreal-based Attraction. Netflix signed a first-look deal with Attraction last November, for French-language film projects to be developed and produced by the company.
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Jean-François Poisson will direct the untitled baseball doc. Marie-Christine Pouliot, Attraction’s head producer, documentary, and Richard Speer, president of Attraction, will executive produce.
According to Netflix, the film explores the setbacks that led to the departure of the Expos from Montreal and how the loss of an MLB team in Montreal continues to spark debate 20 years later.
Some of those setbacks included fee disputes between the city and Expos owner Jeffrey Loria over a new stadium, the firing of beloved, long-time manager Felipe Alou, and a historic switcheroo in which Loria bought the Miami Marlins, Marlins owner John Henry bought the Boston Red Sox, and the MLB purchased the Expos.
After several more twists, the Expos officially became the Washington Nationals in 2005 and moved to DC.
“It is with great pride and enthusiasm that Attraction announces the first project to result from our partnership with Netflix,” Speers said in a statement. “The Expos were the first MLB team outside of the U.S., and despite their departure from Montreal, they continue to have passionate fans to this day. This film will tell the story of the team through the eyes of those who lived it.”
The untitled documentary comes on the heels of recent sports entertainment stories from Netflix, including “Formula 1: Drive To Survive,” “Full Swing,” “NASCAR: Full Speed,” “Untold,” “Quarterback,” “Tour de France: Unchained,” “Under Pressure: The U.S. Women’s World Cup Team” and “Six Nations: Full Contact.”
Last spring, Netflix Canada officially opened its Toronto headquarters with a star-studded party with CEO Ted Sarandos and key figures like Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in attendance. At the time, the streamer revealed it had invested roughly $3 billion on film and TV series shot in Toronto and Vancouver since 2017.
In 2021, the streamer named Tara Woodbury and Danielle Woodrow to its Canadian content executive team. At the end of 2023, Netflix’s Canada presence continued to grow with the hiring of former Entertainment One (eOne) exec Chris Bell.
Since setting up official shop in Canada, the streamer has announced “Tall Pines,” a limited series from Mae Martin with Objective Fiction and Sphere Media, and an untitled Inuit comedy in partnership with CBC and APTN. It has also established a presence in French Canada with a French-language stand-up special featuring Mathieu Dufour and a three-year deal with “Just for Laughs.”
The first special under that deal, “Rachid Badouri Les Fleurs Du Tapis,” dropped on the streamer last month.
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