Fyre Festival Documentary Acquired By Netflix For January Release

Netflix said Monday it has acquired Chris Smith’s Fyre, a documentary about the uber-fail 2017 Fyre Festival in the Bahamas that spawned lawsuits over its poor organization and false claims. Smith, who directed Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond, connected with the organizers to tell a behind the scenes tale. Netflix will bow the docu on January 18.

Created by Billy McFarland and Ja Rule, Fyre was promoted as a luxury music festival on a private island featuring bikini-clad supermodels, A-List musical performances and posh amenities. The reality was far from the promises — boxed lunches, a tent city and no music. McFarland was sentenced in October to six years in prison for fraud.

Check out the Frye teaser above.

Smith wrote and directed and produced with Vice Studios’ Danny Gabai and Jerry Media’s Mick Purzycki. Brett Kincaid, Max Pollack, Matthew Rowean, Gabrielle Bluestone, James Ohliger and Elliot Tebele are executive producers.

The deal comes as Hulu is planning a docuseries about the festival to stream sometime next year in a co-production with Cinemart, Billboard and Mic.