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There are plenty of upcoming music biopics on the horizon, and one that fans have been waiting intently for is a feature film centered on the life and career of Britney Spears. After years of speculation, it was reported in 2024, that Universal landed the theatrical rights to Spears’ story and that Crazy Rich Asians and Wicked director Jon M. Chu would helm the flick. However, from the outside looking in, progress on the movie has been slow and, now, an insider is dropping claims about how Spears herself is allegedly holding it up.
After her biopic was announced, Spears shared a post in which she expressed enthusiasm about the movie, specifically the prospect of Marc Platt producing it. The aforementioned source alleges, however, that Spears is causing the project to stall due to her more recent exploits. Over the past few years, the singer has made headlines due to her racy Instagram posts, with one suggesting she prefers “the bad girl” persona. And, earlier this year, she was arrested and eventually charged with DUI. With all that in mind, the source said:
With Britney’s personal struggles continuing, it would be impossible … to film and release a movie while she is still going through all of that stuff. Britney needs to get better and she needs to re-engage with the project for it to move forward.
If Star Magazine’s source is to be believed, this all comes down to optics as well as public relations. The thought is that it wouldn’t be viable or in good taste for the studio to craft and later promote a massive movie when the movie’s real-life subject is apparently going through a hard time. In theory, execs would need to tread lightly, as this biopic could potentially be quite lucrative for Universal, which is still riding high off the box office success of Michael, which is based on Michael Jackson’s life. The insider also said this:
Universal Pictures is in a very tricky situation. They’re looking at the real numbers on the Michael biopic and the profits rolling in on that movie are truly stunning. It’s been a license to make money. [But] the key to that project was presenting a happy ending to [Michael Jackson‘s] story that left fans humming the music and dancing when they left the theaters. They’d like the same dynamic with the Britney movie, and they thought they had it when they bought the rights to her book [The Woman In Me] not long after her conservatorship ended.
In early 2025, an insider claimed “failure” was “not an option” for a Spears biopic in the aftermath of Universal’s development on its since-scrapped Madonna movie. That latter project was in the works for two years before it was scrapped due to the “Like a Prayer” performer shifting her professional priorities. It’s also been alleged that Spears “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.”
All the while, fans have been betting on who’ll play Britney Spears in the movie, and names like Sydney Sweeney, Dove Cameron and Millie Bobby Brown have been in the mix. Brown actually addressed the Spears speculation, saying that she would “love nothing more than to be a part of her story,” but only if the “Toxic” singer herself is involved.
Britney Spears has since checked out of rehab and has reportedly been sentenced to participate in a DUI program as part of her plea deal.No official release window has been announced for Britney Spears’ biopic, as of this writing.
