There has been much conjecture regarding the status of the Prince documentary on Netflix, which was widely rumored to have halted due to arguments between Netflix, filmmaker Ezra Edelman, and the Prince Estate about factual substance in the movie.
Netflix and the Prince Estate issued the following joint statement yesterday, putting an end to speculation:
“The Prince Estate and Netflix have negotiated a deal under which the Estate will produce and distribute a Prince documentary as well as other exclusive content from the Prince’s Vault archive. As a result, Netflix will not release a Prince documentary.
The Prince documentary has been in development for several years. Following Prince Rogers Nelson’s death in 2016, Comerica Bank & Trust managed his estate for many years, attempting to monetize Prince’s significant assets in order to pay off the estate’s bills while his estate was processed through probate court. As part of these efforts, Comerica signed an agreement with Netflix on behalf of the Estate to create a documentary series about Prince’s life, which was initially reported on in 2018. The documentary was produced by Netflix, which had broad access to Prince’s archives.
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L. Londell McMillan, Prince’s longtime attorney and trusted confidant, spoke on the news on X:
In August 2022, the probate court divided Prince’s assets into two court-approved ownership groups: Prince Legacy LLC and Primary Wave Music. After Prince Legacy and Primary Wave took over co-management of the Estate, they saw a cut of the documentary and became embroiled in a feud with Netflix and Ezra Edelman over factual mistakes, mischaracterizations, and sensationalization of certain events. After a number of “unnamed sources” told the media about these negotiations, there was significant coverage of the conflict and the documentary’s fate beginning in July 2024. These sources said that, in addition to the conflict over the factual content, the Estate had blocked Netflix’s access to Prince’s archives, and that Edelman had given a nine-hour video to Netflix despite the fact that the agreement only gave music rights for a six-hour documentary.
In September 2024, Prince Legacy and Primary Wave released the following joint statement.
Those responsible for carrying out Prince’s wishes must respect his inventiveness and talent. We are striving to overcome issues with the documentary so that his narrative can be conveyed accurately and without misrepresenting or sensationalizing his life. We are excited to continue sharing Prince’s gifts and celebrating his tremendous and lasting impact on the world.
According to yesterday’s announcement, Netflix and the Estate have settled their differences and are now moving on from this problematic endeavor. While the Estate intends to produce a definitive Prince documentary, it will do it with another creative partner rather than Netflix.
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