Oscar-winning director Ezra Edelman has called out Netflix for putting his much-anticipated nine-hour documentary about the late music icon on ice, claiming the high-profile project was derailed by interference on the part of Prince's estate. In a scorched-earth interview on the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast, Edelman didn't sugarcoat his feelings, describing the cancellation as a "joke" and scolding the estate for its disobedience to a portrayal of Prince as a fully human figure.
Edelman, who won an Academy Award four years ago for his documentary O.J.: Made in America, embarked on the project to create an expansive, deep dive into Prince, a film that, as he put it, would allow viewers to "bathe in his genius" while also facing some of the complications of his persona. Netflix had initially signed on, reportedly allowing the estate to fact-check the film for accuracy. But things turned sharply when the estate returned a staggering "17-page document full of editorial issues."
"You think I want to put out a movie that's factually wrong?" he demanded, frustration seeping into his voice. However, the notes he got weren't about facts; they were about control. The estate, he said, balked at parts of the documentary that showed Prince's struggles, vulnerabilities, and contradictions and would instead protect the carefully cultivated myth of the mysterious genius.
For Edelman, that was a nonstarter. He did not want to tear down a legend but tried to tell the complete, unvarnished truth. Everything described about who you think he is in this movie," Edelman said. "You get to see his genius. And yet you also have to deal with his humanity, which he got stuck in in some ways he could not reveal because he became trapped in this myth that he was about what he was to the world.'
Edelman's attempts aside, Netflix pulled the plug on the project. Instead, the streaming giant is moving ahead with an estate-sanctioned program that will include "exclusive content from Prince's archive." That may sound like an exciting prospect to some. Still, for Edelman and probably many hardcore Prince fans, it represents a watered-down, tightly managed version of the artist's narrative, one that is more focused on legacy management than truth.
The aura around Prince was always part of his charm, but he was also a deeply complicated man. The tension between maintaining his image and his truth has long divided fans, scholars, and now, filmmakers. If Edelman's accounts are accurate, it indicates that the estate cares more about maintaining a shiny facade than letting the world behold Prince in all his brilliance and contradictions.
The cancellation of Edelman's film leaves a more significant question than the credits that will roll: Who gets to decide how Prince is remembered? Is it those in his inner circle, the fans who idolized him, or the artists and historians who are going about telling his story unhindered? For now, it appears Netflix has adopted the estate's version of events. But as Edelman's circuitous and impassioned defense illustrates, the real story of Prince Rogers Nelson remains to be told.
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