The Prince docuseries is dead – long live the Prince docuseries

A contentious docuseries about Prince will no longer see the light of day – but a new project has emerged to take its place.

This week, Netflix announced a deal with the late music superstar’s estate to pull the six-part series, which Oscar-winning director Ezra Edelman (O.J.: Made in America) began working on five years ago, and replace it with a new Prince-focused project controlled by the estate.

• Prince’s reps say the now-cancelled series was full of falsities and over-dramatizations, after Edelman included interviews of past lovers accusing Prince of abuse and sexual misconduct.
• Edelman has pushed back against the estate’s claims, saying documentaries where the subject is involved in the creation process typically end up heavily biased and inaccurate.

It was an uphill battle from the start: Nearly all of the people initially set to work on the Prince docuseries – including the original director, the estate's point of contact, and former Netflix VP Lisa Nishimura – dropped out or were let go mid-production.

👀 Looking ahead…As part of its deal with Netflix, the Prince estate plans to develop and produce a new documentary featuring exclusive content from its archives, known as “The Vault.” It’s currently unclear what will happen to the nine hours of completed footage for Edelman’s docuseries.