ESPN forced to pull documentary due to lack of licensing agreement

ESPN was forced to move around the primetime slate on ESPN2 on Sunday night after the documentary “Rachel, Breathe” did “not air as scheduled because the licensing agreement was not finalized in time,” according to sources cited by Kimberly Nordyke of the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. It is understood that both ESPN and the group behind the documentary, led by director and producer Frank Marshall, had been “working on a deal, but late in the discussions, additional terms were introduced that needed more business and legal review.” Sources said that there was “not enough time to review the new terms and finalize the deal before Sunday’s planned premiere.” Talks are continuing between the parties. Marathoner Rachel Foster, who ran the 2023 Boston Marathon “five months after waking up from a coma,” is the subject of the film, which focuses on Foster “preparing to run the 2025 Boston Marathon” (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 4/20).