HBO has begun production on Barry Bonds documentary

Giants legend and MLB all-time home run king Barry Bonds is set to be the subject of a forthcoming HBO documentary, the cable TV giant announced Wednesday.

Oscar winner Ezra Edelman, known for directing the five-part O.J.: Made in America documentary focused on O.J. Simpson, will be an executive producer on the project. The untitled Bonds film will be directed by Keith McQuirter, who is best known for the docuseries By Whatever Means Necessary: The Times of Godfather of Harlem.

Production company Words + Pictures, founded by 30 for 30 creators Connor Schell and Libby Geist, is also involved.

Deadline first broke the news of the project Wednesday. There is no release date, and judging from the press release, which touted a “diverse cast of influential figures from Barry Bonds’ life and career,” Bonds has not been involved in production to this point.

“The opportunity for Bonds to actively participate and share his firsthand experiences remains available,” the release reads.

“Using archival footage and original interviews, the film will chronicle Bonds’ emergence as one of the game’s most talented all-around players with the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants and then his years as a superstar with the Giants when he rewrote the record book in his late 30s amid controversy.”

That controversy — his connection to the BALCO performance-enhancing drug scandal — has kept Bonds out of the Baseball Hall of Fame despite holding both the single-season and career MLB home run records.

McQuirter, who grew up in the Bay Area, recalled the feeling of seeing Bonds play.

“You couldn’t escape his name or his game, his story, or his personality. Every time he stepped up to the plate, the energy was electric – because he wasn’t just competing with his contemporaries, he was competing with history,” McQuirter said in a statement. “Bonds was undoubtedly controversial, but no matter how you felt about him, his pursuit of becoming the greatest player of all time was mesmerizing.”

The announcement came on the same day the Giants closed their series with Bonds’ first MLB team, the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Just last year, HBO released a documentary focused on Giants Hall of Famer Willie Mays, Bonds’ godfather.