Published on CBC News
By Alexandra Mae Jones, February 7th, 2025
Netflix series scrapped, will be replaced by new project produced by estate
A Netflix documentary series about Prince by an Oscar-winning filmmaker has been cancelled after the late singer’s estate blocked its release.
The completed, but untitled, series by Ezra Edelman was delayed in 2024 after representatives for Prince’s estate viewed a cut and claimed it had factual errors and that it sensationalized parts of the singer’s life, according to Variety.
Netflix and the estate said Friday the project has been scrapped, under an agreement that will see the latter “develop and produce a new documentary featuring exclusive content from Prince’s archive,” according to a joint statement.
Prince died in 2016 of an accidental fentanyl overdose, leaving his estate to be split between six siblings — touching off a prolonged legal battle which may have contributed to the estate’s ambivalence about the documentary. It was reportedly approved when the estate was still being managed by a bank.
