Netflix will no longer release a nine-hour documentary about music icon Prince after years of development. The late singer’s estate will develop its own film.
The completed documentary was directed by Oscar winner Ezra Edelman, best known for “O.J.: Made in America.” Edelman was granted unprecedented access to Prince’s archives, dubbed “the vault” by his estate. The documentary, seen by only a handful of people, was reported by the New York Times Magazine to contain testimonies from the musician’s former girlfriends and others alleging physical and emotional abuse.
“The Prince Estate and Netflix have come to a mutual agreement that will allow the estate to develop and produce a new documentary featuring exclusive content from Prince’s archive,” Netflix and the estate said in a joint statement to The Times on Friday. “As a result, the Netflix documentary will not be released.”
Representatives for Edelman did not immediately return The Times’ requests for comment.
On X, the estate also posted a video celebrating that the “vault” had been “freed.” “Despite everything, no one can dictate who you are to other people,” the video’s on-screen text reads. “The truth is, you are either here to enlighten or discourage.”
The documentary was said to include interviews with people close to Prince beyond his former girlfriends, including bandmates, sound engineers, assistants, bodyguards, managers, childhood friends, record-company executives and one of his sisters, per the New York Times Magazine.
Variety reported in July 2024 that after more than four years of development, the estate and the streamer were clashing over the estate’s claim that the documentary “sensationalized” versions of the singer’s life events. The estate also alleged there were “ ‘dramatic’ factual inaccuracies.”
The “Purple Rain” singer, who died from a fentanyl overdose in 2016, did not have a will. His estate was said to be valued at about $300 million at the time of his death.
Determining the heirs of his estate and how his fortune would be distributed and managed has turned into a long and complex legal saga. In 2022, the estate changed administration to some of his heirs, associates and the music publisher Primary Wave.
Around the time of this change is said to be when the estate starting pushing back against Edelman’s access to “the vault” and the creative direction of the doc.
Additional information on the estate’s plans to develop a separate documentary project were not immediately available.
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