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Failure ‘Not an Option’ for Britney Spears Biopic: The Princess of Pop ‘Is Doing Everything Right’
Britney Spears’ upcoming biopic is getting tons of buzz and a source says it’s in line to be made sooner rather than later, particularly thanks to the success of recent music-driven projects like A Complete Unknown and even Wicked.
The Jon M. Chu-directed project, which is armed with full access to Britney’s astonishing catalogue of pop hits, is also sure to bring her some much needed revenue, according to a high-level insider, who exclusively tells Life & Style where the project stands and anticipates the still-in-development script could attain an all-important green light during this calendar year.
“The real story here is that, unlike the botched Madonna biopic that Universal wasted two years of work on, Britney’s movie has strong source material in the form of Britney’s 2023 book The Woman in Me.”
As Life & Style previously reported, Brit, 43, is working very closely with the director, who brought Wicked, Crazy Rich Asians and In the Heights to the big screen, to ensure the biopic captures her side of her tumultuous and tragic life. “She will be very involved in this,” Jon, 45, told reporters on the Golden Globes red carpet in January. “I have ideas and things, an approach of things, but it’s very very early.”
“Britney’s personal journey has a clear-cut arc and a pretty compelling ending, where her fans and the media championed the #FreeBritney movement and cheered the end of her conservatorship,” the insider explains. “It’s a story Britney’s millions of followers can get behind, because they were a huge part of it.”
“You also have a whole host of interesting supporting characters,” the source continues, “from Britney’s family to her exes Justin Timberlake and Kevin Federline — people who have been in the public eye just as long as Britney herself.”
Fans have intensely speculated about the casting for the movie since its announcement, with people suggesting Millie Bobby Brown, Selena Gomez and Natalie Portman for the lead role — something the director has taken note of.
“I’ve seen all the fan casting,” Jon said, “and I always take that into consideration because maybe there’s a good idea out there we’ll have to see. We’ll have to see what the approach of the movie is because we know who is right for it but I’m open for anything.”
With such an open attitude toward giving the fans what they want to see, the source notes this particular biopic is looking sunnier than Madonna’s.
“Britney is doing everything right that Madonna did wrong with her movie and there’s a giant payday at the end of all of this, because a successful music biopic sends your music streaming numbers into the stratosphere,” the insider explains. “It happened with Queen six years ago and it’s happening with Bob Dylan right now.”
While the Princess of Pop’s net worth is estimated to be around $60 million, that figure could be way off, considering the length of the involuntary conservatorship she was put under, which gave her dad control of her finances. Regardless of how fat her pockets are now, a cash injection amid her return to the spotlight is essential, according to the insider.
“Britney understands how high the financial stakes are here, not just for the studio but for her personally, and that’s where she differs from Madonna. Failure is not an option.”
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