Netflix and Prince’s estate scrap controversial documentary for new project

Prince‘s estate and Netflix have announced a new “mutual agreement” and the cancellation of a long-awaited documentary on the late musical legend.

• READ MORE: The 20 best Prince songs of all time by the NME office

Today (February 7), Prince’s estate took to social media to announce its new partnership with Netflix, which will allow the estate to “develop and produce a new documentary featuring exclusive content from Prince’s archive”.

The estate’s statement also confirmed the cancellation of Ezra Edelman’s documentary for Netflix, which had been in development for over four years. No information has been divulged about the new documentary being planned at Netflix.

Edelman – best known for his work on the O.J.: Made In America documentary – had been working on the film for the past four years after he replaced Ava DuVernay and was given extensive access to Prince’s archives.

In July last year, however, it was reported that Edelman’s product had been blocked and “dead in the water” after multiple disputes with Prince’s estate. The late artist’s estate claimed a first cut of the Netflix film was filled with “dramatic” factual inaccuracies and “sensationalised” renderings of certain events from his life, according to Variety.

The deal for the documentary also called for a six-hour series but Edelman reportedly delivered nine hours, which is said to be a violation of the agreement.

Prince died of a fentanyl overdose in 2016, and as he had no will, his six heirs were left to inherit equal parts in his estate. It also sparked a long legal battle over how the estate would be managed going forward.

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