ESPN Is Bumping Up Its Michael Jordan Documentary Release Date
ESPN announced that its much-hyped Chicago Bulls documentary, The Last Dance, will be airing on April 19, moved up from the previous June 2 release date.
The documentary features exclusive footage of the 1997-1998 Chicago Bulls team, and focuses extensively on Michael Jordan.
The 10-episode, 20-hour documentary series will air over the course of five consecutive Sunday nights.
With the sports world stuck at a standstill for the foreseeable future due to the COVID-19 pandemic, fans have been eager for just about anything to get excited about—and ESPN now is trying to give it to them. The Last Dance, a documentary focusing on Michael Jordan and the 1990s Chicago Bulls, was originally scheduled to be released in June—but now has been moved up to an April 19 launch date.
The Last Dance, which is a 10-episode documentary focused on Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s, will air over five consecutive Sunday nights, with two hour-long episodes airing at a time. The series features never-before-seen footage of the 1997-1998 Bulls, which ended up being Jordan and company's sixth championship team over an eight-year period. Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf and head coach Phil Jackson agreed to have cameras rolling the entire season—and the footage is only now being unveiled.
“As society navigates this time without live sports, viewers are still looking to the sports world to escape and enjoy a collective experience. We’ve heard the calls from fans asking us to move up the release date for this series, and we’re happy to announce that we’ve been able to accelerate the production schedule to do just that,” ESPN said in a statement (according to Deadline). “This project celebrates one of the greatest players and dynasties ever, and we hope it can serve as a unifying entertainment experience to fill the role that sports often play in our lives, telling a story that will captivate everyone, not just sports fans.”
On April 19 ... IT BEGINS 🍿#TheLastDance | @StateFarm pic.twitter.com/BTxWjWyqdY
— ESPN (@espn) March 31, 2020
The premiere of “The Last Dance,” the 10-part documentary series on Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls’ quest for a sixth NBA Championship in 1998, will air on ESPN in the U.S. on Sunday nights over five weeks from April 19 through May 17. Here’s the complete schedule: pic.twitter.com/iUSep2qHae
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) March 31, 2020
While the series will focus primarily on Jordan—and will dive into his past, present, and more—it will also flesh out several other characters in the orbit of both he and the Chicago Bulls, including Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, and Steve Kerr. The show will also feature dozens of modern-day talking head interviews—the initial trailer even showed interviews with celebrities like Justin Timberlake and Carmen Electra. We'll see how those figure into everything at some point, surely.
Immediately after the episodes air on linear ESPN, they will be available to watch on the ESPN app, ESPN.com, and ESPN's on-demand functions. Sports probably won't be back in a proper way for a while, but fans finally have a day to circle on their calendars—and its April 19.
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