Over lunch with a documentary producer last month, I kinda unloaded on the music and sports nonfiction genre. In many ways, it’s never been better for fans like me—given the relatively low cost and breakout potential of these projects, there’s a constant and seemingly endless stream of content. At the same time, even my lunch companion agreed, most of these participation docs totally suck.
I’ve complained about this before. Thanks to copyright law and the requirement that the artist or their family bless the “sync” of the artist’s music with video, there’s a glut of pure hagiographies, like the recent Apple doc on Billie Eilish, or quasi-documentary “series” like Hulu’s Jon Bon Jovi opus. Or there’s the selective biography, like the upcoming estate-approved Michael Jackson movie, which paints the pop star as a victim of the child abuse claims against him, or the new Beach Boys doc on Disney+, which glosses over the pretty major story points that Brian Wilson went crazy and the band members started suing each other. It says something that everyone loved Netflix’s Beckham because David and Victoria dared to reveal a tiny bit of unvarnished candor about their marriage.
That’s why I had super high hopes for the semi-secret, multipart Prince documentary that filmmaker Ezra Edelman has been working on for more than four years. Yes, the same Edelman who won universal praise and the documentary feature Oscar for 2016’s mega-ambitious O.J.: Made in America… and has directed nothing else since.
Netflix never officially announced the Prince project, but back in 2018, the streamer cut a deal with the estate of the enigmatic music icon, who died in 2016 of a fentanyl overdose at age 57. Edelman came on board to replace Ava DuVernay, who was initially attached to direct, and he finished his cut of the film a while back, even hosting a few friends-and-family screenings last year, I’m told. It’s said to be the rare example these days of a truly journalistic endeavor that employs extensive use of the Grammy winner’s music and archival materials. Sounds great, right?
Not great for the Prince estate, executors of which have seen the film and aren’t fans. It’s unclear what exactly peeves them—my emails to estate lawyer L. Londell McMillan weren’t returned, and reps for Netflix and Edelman declined to comment—but one source insists it’s not revelations of drug use or sexual stuff. Instead, the estate argues there are things in the film that are inaccurate, I’m told, and they’re protective of the famously private Prince. But Netflix sources believe this is mostly a control issue, and reflects the fact that the current executors of the estate are different from those who greenlit the project in the first place.
Nine Hours
While Netflix and Edelman maintain final cut of the film, the Netflix deal with the estate calls for a six-hour series, and Edelman delivered nine hours. The estate has been using that violation of the agreement to essentially hold the film hostage. This has been going on awhile under the radar, and the back-and-forth between Netflix and the estate is ongoing, with two sources telling me Netflix is confident a compromise can still be worked out. But so far, no deal. And no deal means no Prince movie.
A huge bummer, but this situation wasn’t entirely unforeseeable. O.J.: Made in America, which was originally commissioned as a five-hour, three-part installment of ESPN’s 30 for 30 series, eventually clocked in at nearly eight hours. It’s still the longest film to ever win an Oscar (no, Netflix’s The Power of the Dog just felt like it was eight hours), and it caused the Academy to ban “multipart or limited series” films from future consideration. Edelman is said to be as unrelenting in his independence as he is meticulous in his filmmaking, so he’s not interested in a truncated version of the Prince project.
The estate of Prince, who died without a will, also sounds like a nightmare to deal with for Netflix’s unscripted chief Brandon Riegg, documentary leader Adam Del Deo, and the Netflix lawyers. Riegg inherited this project from former docs chief Lisa Nishimura. And two years ago, a Minnesota probate settlement divided Prince’s estate in two: Prince’s family and friends created Prince Legacy, on the one hand, and on the other, there’s Prince OAT Holdings, an arm of the rights management company Primary Wave Music. (Its president, Larry Mestel, did not return my email.)
Since the two entities manage the estate together, both must agree on most big decisions related to Prince’s intellectual property. Nightmare. Further complicating matters, members of Prince Legacy sued four of his other relatives earlier this year over claims they’re wrongfully trying to seize control of the entity. That suit was filed by McMillan, who owns a stake in Prince Legacy. Not surprisingly, some of the Prince people are said to care about certain things in the documentary, while others care about other stuff.
A legal mess, but can it be resolved? I hope so. One could argue that nine episodes on Prince is too many. To be honest, most of these multipart documentary series would be well-served by a Harvey Scissorhands editor. Even Showtime’s highly regarded 2013 doc History of The Eagles was able to tell the story of the famously dysfunctional band in just two, 90-minute episodes. And despite his place in music history, Prince as a story probably isn’t as interesting as O.J. There’s no true crime intrigue—we all know how Prince died—and it’s hard to point to many music docs that have been massive hits. Maybe the estate is right and Prince doesn’t justify such an extended treatment.
But Edelman is the X factor here, having taken the most worked-over tabloid figure, O.J. Simpson, and turned Made in America into a springboard for searing cultural analysis. Given his track record as a director, it would be tragic if he’s forced to shelve this film, even if his ultimate vision doesn’t match the framework that was agreed upon. You’d think the friends and family of Prince, who, during his life, famously defied industry rules and charted his own creative path, would be sympathetic to that argument.