Prince documentary creator Ezra Edelman slammed Netflix’s recent cancellation of his nine-hour film as a “joke” during a candid appearance on the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast over tensions between artistic vision and estate control.
Edelman, the acclaimed director who secured an Oscar for the critically lauded 2016 documentary O.J.: Made In America, didn’t mince words as he opened up about Netflix’s decision to shelve his ambitious exploration into the legendary musician’s life.
According to Edelman, Netflix initially agreed to let representatives of Prince’s estate review the film strictly for factual accuracy.
However, Edelman said he was stunned to receive “a 17-page document full of editorial issues, not factual issues.”
“You think I have any interest in putting out a film that’s factually inaccurate?” Edelman asked pointedly during the podcast interview, clearly frustrated by the estate’s objections.
He suggested the estate was uncomfortable with elements in the documentary that portrayed the beloved singer in a more nuanced and human light.
“Everything about who you believe he is is in this movie,” Edelman asserted. “You get to bathe in his genius. And yet you also have to confront his humanity, which he, by the way, in some ways, was trapped in not being able to expose, because he got trapped in his own myth about who he was to the world, and he had to maintain it.”
Edelman’s ambitious project, intended as a definitive portrait of Prince’s extraordinary career and complex personality, fell through last month when Netflix abruptly announced its cancellation.
Instead, the streaming giant revealed plans to develop a new program featuring “exclusive content from Prince’s archive,” seemingly signaling a more sanitized and controlled representation approved by the estate.