Entertainment
Ron Howard's "Avedon" Premieres on Netflix Today
Ron Howard's documentary on photographer Richard Avedon streams on Netflix starting Nov. 11, after a Variety rave, a Santa Monica screening he biked to, and a Gagosian show of 120-plus Avedon photographs.
Ron Howard's documentary *Avedon*, a portrait of the photographer Richard Avedon (1923–2004), premieres on Netflix today, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026.
What the film is
Netflix says *Avedon* traces the life and legacy of an artist who used photography to reinvent the world around him, drawing on unprecedented access to his personal archives: never-before-seen stills, intimate behind-the-lens footage and new interviews with his closest collaborators. "I've always been drawn to stories that help us better understand remarkable people," Howard told Netflix's Tudum.
Howard told Deadline in May that "for the first time the [Richard Avedon] foundation and the family were willing to give a documentary group access, really full access to these archives." The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 17, 2026.
*Avedon* is a production of Imagine Documentaries and Fifth Season, in association with the Richard Avedon Foundation. Its producers include Howard and his longtime Imagine partner Brian Grazer.
The reviews
In a Nov. 8 review, Variety critic Owen Gleiberman called *Avedon* "a fantastic movie" and "the best documentary Ron Howard has made," writing that Andrew Morreale's editing is "so supple and artful that its technique should be studied in filmmaking classes." Gleiberman notes the film weaves in hundreds of Avedon's photographs, drawn from the 16,000 sittings he did from 1944 until his death in 2004. Interviewees include Isabella Rossellini, Lauren Hutton, Twiggy, Calvin Klein and Avedon's son, John Avedon. Variety lists the film as rated R, with a 105-minute running time.
The bike
Page Six reported on Nov. 9 that Howard rode a bike to a special screening of *Avedon* at Santa Monica's Aero Theatre on Friday night, parked it in the alley behind the theater and walked around front to sign autographs. American Cinematheque's listing dates the screening Nov. 6. Lauren Hutton joined Howard onstage for a Q&A moderated by The Hollywood Reporter's Chris Gardner, according to Page Six.
Avedon in Beverly Hills
Coinciding with the release, Gagosian's Beverly Hills gallery is showing *Richard Avedon: Hollywood*, more than 120 photographs curated by the Richard Avedon Foundation, through Dec. 19, 2026, at 456 North Camden Drive.
How to watch
*Avedon* streams on Netflix starting today, Nov. 11.
Reporting Sources
Photo & Video Credits
Credit: Gabriel Hutchinson. CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped/edited for cover.. License: CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: file page.
Editorial notes
Sources
- Netflix Tudum, "Ron Howard's Richard Avedon Documentary Will Premiere in November": https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/avedon-release-date-news
- Variety, Owen Gleiberman, "'Avedon' Review" (Nov. 8, 2026): https://variety.com/2026/film/reviews/avedon-review-ron-howard-richard-avedon-1236942472/
- Page Six, "Ron Howard humbly rolls up to Santa Monica screening of his new Netflix doc 'Avedon' on his bike" (Nov. 9, 2026): https://pagesix.com/2026/11/09/hollywood/ron-howard-humbly-rolls-up-to-santa-monica-screening-of-his-new-netflix-doc-avedon-on-his-bike/
- American Cinematheque, Avedon at the Aero Theatre (Nov. 6, 2026): https://www.americancinematheque.com/now-showing/avedon-11-06-2026/
- Gagosian, "Richard Avedon: Hollywood": https://gagosian.com/exhibitions/2026/richard-avedon-hollywood/
- Deadline, Ron Howard interview (May 2026): https://deadline.com/video/ron-howard-interview-richard-avedon-documentary/
- Festival de Cannes, *Avedon*: https://www.festival-cannes.com/f/avedon/
Photo credits
All images are photographs used under their stated licenses; no Netflix key art or studio publicity art is used. Edits: crop/resize, slow pan/zoom, dark background plate, captions, date labels and NewsCubby branding. Faces are not altered. No endorsement by the people shown or the photographers is implied. NewsCubby's adaptations of CC BY-SA photos are offered under the same CC BY-SA license version as the original; originals keep their own licenses.
| Time (s) | Image | Creator / license | Source | |---|---|---|---| | 0.0-5.0, 26.7-29.0 | Ron Howard introduces Avedon at Cannes, May 17, 2026 | Gabriel Hutchinson — CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) | https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ron_Howard_speaks_at_the_premier_of_%22Avedon%22_02.jpg | | 5.0-11.7, 29.0-35.0 | Ron Howard introduces Avedon at Cannes, May 17, 2026 | Gabriel Hutchinson — CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) | https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ron_Howard_speaks_at_the_premier_of_%22Avedon%22_03.jpg | | 11.7-20.2, 68.9-76.8 | Ron Howard at the Avedon premiere, Cannes, May 2026 | Gabriel Hutchinson / WikiPortraits — CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) | https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ron_Howard_speaks_at_the_premier_of_%22Avedon%22_01.jpg | | 20.2-26.7, 35.0-38.8, 76.8-82.0 | Ron Howard at Cannes, May 2026 | Vbrunophotog — CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) | https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ron_Howard_interview_at_Elvis_Mitchell_lounge_at_2026_Cannes_Film_Festival_01.jpg | | 38.8-44.8 | Ron Howard at the Toronto International Film Festival, 2024 | Jay Dixit — CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) | https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ron_Howard_at_the_2024_Toronto_International_Film_Festival_01.jpg | | 44.8-51.0, 61.4-63.7 | Lauren Hutton, Tribeca Film Festival, 2011 | David Shankbone — CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/) | https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lauren_Hutton_2011_Shankbone.JPG | | 51.0-55.2 | Aero Theatre, Santa Monica (2023) | Jengod — CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) | https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aero_Theatre_on_Montana,_Santa_Monica,_California.jpg | | 55.2-61.4 | Aero Theatre, Santa Monica (2023) | Jengod — CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) | https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aero_Theater_Santa_Monica_California_United_States_2023-04.jpg | | 63.7-68.9 | Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, Tribeca, 2011 | David Shankbone — CC BY 3.0 Unported (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/) | https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ron_Howard_Brian_Grazer_2011_Shankbone.JPG |
Cover and thumbnail: Ron Howard introducing Avedon at Cannes, May 17, 2026. Gabriel Hutchinson, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ron_Howard_speaks_at_the_premier_of_%22Avedon%22_02.jpg. Cropped, headline and branding added.
Narration is AI-generated (OpenAI gpt-4o-mini-tts). No music.
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