In a development that will come as a disappointment to many, Netflix has confirmed that the completed nine-hour Prince documentary that it commissioned from acclaimed director Ezra Edelman will not be broadcast.
A multi-part Prince documentary has been in the works at Netflix since 2018, when it was announced that it was being helmed by Selma director Ava DuVernay. She left the project the following year, but the baton was picked up by Edelman, best known for his Oscar-winning OJ: Made in America series.
Edelman completed a nine-hour edit of his Prince film in 2023 but, according to an article in the New York Times last year, was at loggerheads with the Prince estate. After seeing it, they reportedly submitted “17 pages of notes demanding changes”.
Now the deadlock has been broken, but not in the way that a lot of people would have hoped.
“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 said in a statement sent to the Minnesota Star Tribune. “As a result, the Netflix documentary will not be released.”
What’s not exactly clear from this statement is whether the new documentary will appear on Netflix or some other platform, but Edelman’s documentary now seems dead in the water, with Prince’s estate seemingly not happy with its portrayal of their star.
Some of its more shocking revelations are touched on in the aforementioned New York Times article, but hip-hop star Questlove, a Prince superfan who features in Edelman’s film and has seen the nine-hour edit, suggests that it’s a compelling watch.
“Everything’s here,” he told the NYT. “He’s a genius, he’s majestical, he’s sexual, he’s flawed, he’s trash, he’s divine, he’s all those things. And, man. Wow.”
Prince’s social media channels also carried news of the documentary cancellation, along with a short video that claims that “The Vault has been freed”.
“Time to make the music the priority. Stay tuned,” reads another post, suggesting that the ‘official’ Prince documentary will place more emphasis on his creative legacy than his private life.
Whether this will lead to a sanitised portrayal of the star remains to be seen. Londell McMillan, co-manager of Prince Legacy LLC, also spoke to the Minnesota Star Tribune, telling them that “the vault is free. It’s a big, big win for Prince’s legacy.”
It’s believed that Netflix’s previous agreement gave it exclusive access to Prince’s archive of recordings, videos, films, photos and other material - certainly in a documentary-making context - but this has now come to an end.
“We’re excited to have the right to put a plan together, which is exciting for the fans and his legacy,” McMillan said. “Thankfully we were able to reach an agreement with Netflix.”
He also said that the Prince estate’s documentary would be “an in-depth piece that explores the complexities of the brilliant musical genius.”
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