Netflix’s long-awaited documentary about Prince has been shelved due to objections from the late artist’s estate. The film, directed by Ezra Edelman, began in 2018, however, issues with factions within Prince’s estate have caused hiccups.
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Per a report from Digital Music News, the documentary is currently an “exhaustive” 9 hours long. This is the basis for the dispute between the factions that own interests in Prince’s estate—Prince Legendary (owned by three of Prince’s half-siblings) and Prince Oat Holdings (owned by Primary Wave, which bought the shares from Prince’s three other half-siblings).
Prince Legendary and Primary Wave are arguing over the film’s length, which has essentially shelved it for the time being. Allegedly, the film has been finished for some time, but it was only supposed to run six hours according to the contract. Additionally, the estate is allegedly unhappy with how Prince’s family members are portrayed, as well as some supposedly “inaccurate” aspects of the late artist’s life.
According to Digital Music News, complaining about the length is a tactic to “hold the film hostage” in order to argue about creative control. Netflix has not currently made a statement on the future of the film.
[RELATED: The Song That Prince Stopped Playing Live but Eventually Came Back To]
While the Prince Documentary Hits Road Blocks, So Too Does the 2021 Tom Petty Doc The Making of Wildflowers
The Prince documentary isn’t the only one hitting snags. A filmmaker is suing Warner Music Production for allegedly using his footage of Tom Petty without permission in 2021. Martyn Atkins, who filmed Petty in the 1990s, filed the lawsuit last month.
Atkins alleges that he did not give Warner Music permission to use the “shocking 45 minutes” of his footage. The lawsuit also states that Atkins was “not compensated in any manner for the film’s unauthorized, brazen exploitation of the works Atkins created and owns.”
The documentary’s director, Mary Wharton, gained access to archival footage of Petty through his daughter, Adria. Apparently, among the archives, was Atkins’ footage. Atkins also claimed he was “conned” by Adria and estate representatives into revealing the file locations of much of his footage from 1994, and was promised that he would direct a documentary film about Wildflowers with his recordings. These promises did not materialize, and Atkins “was not even told as a courtesy that his works would be misappropriated and featured, let alone asked his consent.”
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