Director Jon M. Chu is working hard to bring us the second installment of his Wicked duology, but he also had a slate beyond the iconic pair of films, and that includes the Britney Spears biopic based on her 2023 memoir The Woman In Me. At the Golden Globes, Chu shared an update on the film and how much the pop star will be involved in telling her story.
Chu told Entertainment Tonight on the awards show’s red carpet:
“She’s going to be very involved. I haven’t really started anything fully yet, but she will be very involved in this. I have ideas and things, an approach, but it’s very early.”
Universal Pictures picked up the rights of the critically acclaimed #1 New York Times Bestseller, which Spears signed in 2022 in a book deal reportedly worth $15M. After it was revealed that The Woman In Me would become a film, fans have been casting for the lead role, which the filmmaker says he has seen.
“I’ve seen all fan castings, and I always take those into consideration because maybe there’s a good idea out there,” Chu said. “But we’ll have to see what the approach of the movie is before we know who’s right for it.”
The memoir follows Spears’ trajectory to stardom and how she has defined herself through the twists and turns of life. The book sold over 2.5M copies stateside across hardcover, ebook, and audiobook formats.
In a separate interview with Billboard, Chu said he was “a big fan of Britney,” adding:
“I’ve been a fan since I was young, and she was young, and she was one of 12 acts at the Shrine Auditorium. So I want to do her justice and tell her story right. But we’ll see. We’re developing it now, and it’s a long road ahead.”
Chu has proven that he can tell a good story, now it’s just down to getting the casting right. I appreciate that he will have Spears be involved with the production, as it will make it that much better knowing we are getting insight straight from the source.
via: Deadline
