Britney Spears Biopic Heads to Universal With Jon M. Chu as Director

Britney Spears’ life and story is reportedly getting the biopic treatment, with Universal Pictures landing the rights to the pop princess’ best-selling memoir The Woman in Me, per Variety.

The publication added that Wicked director Jon M. Chu and Marc Platt are leading the film’s development. Earlier on Thursday (Aug. 1), Spears took to X to reveal that she’s been working on a “secret project” with Platt.

“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,” Spears wrote.

In November 2023, Spears celebrated her Woman in Me memoir selling 1.1 million copies in its first week. “Thank you to all the fans who made #TheWomanInMe a #1 @nytimes bestseller,” Spears tweeted at the time along with a mind-blown emoji. “it means the world to me !!! Love you all [three kiss emoji] !!!”

The book chronicles Spears’ rise to fame, her relationship with fellow child star Justin Timberlake — which included her getting pregnant and having an abortion during their time together — as well as her life under a highly restrictive 13-year conservancy. 

The potential Spears biopic is the latest films with pop superstars as the subject. Last month, it was revealed that Madonna’s biopic is back in the works when the singer took to Instagram to share a slideshow of photos in which she’s seen posing with a typewriter, writing a screenplay titled Who’s That Girl, in reference to her 1987 film and song of the same name. While the script is blurred, there are circles and notes indicating edits.

“Need A-lot of Bandz to make this………..OKAY 🍸💵🤑,” she captioned the post. “(Story of my life).” Madonna has yet to confirm if the post is, in fact, alluding to the upcoming film. In January 2023, it was announced that the biopic was on hold at Universal Pictures for Madonna to focus on her global Celebration Tour.