Britney Spears Posts Mysterious Update on Rumored Biopic

Britney Spears seems to have suggested that director Jon Chu’s upcoming film is “fictional” and not a biopic based on her life. On Instagram, the pop icon shared a cryptic message on Friday, 30 August, which was partially hidden behind an illustration of a woman with two cats.

“The project I might be doing isn’t a biopic story … it’s a fictional musical where I play an extremely intelligent character!!!,” Spears wrote. She expressed her excitement by adding, “It’s flattering to be in such good company like Jon Chu!!!”

Just last month, reports emerged that Universal Pictures had secured the rights to Spears’s critically acclaimed memoir, The Woman in Me, with Chu slated to direct. Spears, 42, landed one of the most lucrative book deals ever in 2022, receiving $15 million to pen the autobiography.

The memoir chronicles her meteoric rise to stardom in the late Nineties, the relentless media attention, struggles with mental health, her comeback in the 2000s, and the fight to be released from her involuntary conservatorship. Under this conservatorship, her father Jamie Spears controlled her personal and business affairs from 2008 to 2021.

The Woman in Me became an instant bestseller upon release and ignited a heated bidding war among movie studios. Ultimately, Universal emerged victorious. Jon Chu was considered a savvy choice for this project due to his impressive portfolio, which includes the upcoming film adaptation of the musical Wicked, starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, as well as the concert movie Justin Bieber: Never Say Never and Step Up 2: The Streets.

According to Variety, Chu is collaborating with Marc Platt, the producer behind numerous recent Disney live-action films, including Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Cruella, and the upcoming Snow White adaptation starring Rachel Zegler.

Spears took to X/Twitter in early August to announce that she and Platt had been collaborating on a “secret project.” “Excited to share with my fans that I’ve been working on a secret project with #MarcPlatt. He’s always made my favorite movies … stay tuned,” she tweeted.

In a recent interview with Cosmopolitan, Hollywood actress Emma Roberts addressed rumors that she had been pitched by Spears’s longtime assistant, Felicia Culotta, to portray the pop star. “I was like, I love her assistant. I mean, it’s my true dream to play Britney Spears,” Roberts revealed.

“It’s a rumor, but I hope maybe it’ll come true. I mean, I remember I locked myself in my room and listened to [2003’s] In the Zone and said, ‘I cannot leave this room until I memorize every word.’”

The Independent has reached out to Chu’s representative for comments.

Source: The Independent, Variety, Cosmopolitan