A biopic about pop superstar Britney Spears is still moving forward, with screenwriter Elizabeth “Liz” Meriwether confirming that she is working on the highly anticipated project.
Meriwether, best known as the creator of the television comedy New Girl, said the Britney Spears movie remains in its early stages but believes now is the right time to revisit the singer’s extraordinary life and career.
Speaking to Vanity Fair in an interview published on August 31, the 44-year-old writer said she is still at the beginning of the creative process.
“I’m really at the beginning of the process of thinking about it,” Meriwether said. “But I do feel like what she experienced was pretty unique for the moment that it was happening, almost a perfect storm of attention and new forms of media.”
Britney Spears’ rise to global fame
Britney Spears rose to fame as a teenager in the late 1990s after the release of her debut album, …Baby One More Time, which turned her into one of the biggest pop stars of her generation.
She went on to release several successful albums and expanded her career into acting, starring in the 2002 film Crossroads.
Behind her extraordinary success, however, Spears experienced significant personal and legal struggles.
In 2008, she was placed under a court-ordered conservatorship that controlled many aspects of her personal and financial life. The arrangement remained in place for nearly 14 years before being terminated in 2021.
‘The Woman in Me’ forms basis of biopic
Spears later shared her story in her 2023 memoir The Woman in Me, which became a bestseller and detailed her rise to fame, relationships, family life and years under the conservatorship.
The memoir is serving as the basis for the upcoming film.
Universal Pictures acquired the rights to Spears’ story in 2024, while filmmaker Jon M. Chu is attached to direct the project.
No casting decisions or release date have been announced so far.
Liz Meriwether shares personal connection to Spears’ story
Meriwether said she feels a personal connection to Spears’ story because she is almost the same age as the singer.
The screenwriter explained that she has been revisiting the music and cultural atmosphere of the period when Spears became famous as she works on the project.
“I’ve been listening to a lot of music that was happening around the time that she was making music,” she said. “That’s out of necessity. I want to just get the feeling that moment in time or just remind myself.”
Meriwether added that she believes the timing is right to look back at Spears’ life and reconsider the intense media attention surrounding her rise to fame.
“I do think it’s the right time for this movie and the right moment to be looking back and thinking about it,” she said. “I’m almost exactly her age, and I’m really excited to think about how to retell that story.”
With the script still in development, fans will have to wait for further details about who will portray Spears and when the biopic will reach cinemas.
