The Britney Spears biopic still has no Britney — its director gets hundreds of audition tapes a day and ignores all of them
Universal bought the rights to The Woman in Me in 2024. Liz Meriwether is writing, and Chu will not say whether he has met Spears.
The Britney Spears biopic might have made a splash when it was announced, but if you thought casting news was right around the corner, you might want to put the kettle on and get comfortable. There's a bit of a wait ahead, apparently. Jon M. Chu—the chap who's currently deep in Oz with Wicked—has offered a behind-the-scenes update, and, well, he couldn't be clearer: nobody's been cast, and he doesn't seem fussed about it just yet.
Jon M. Chu told Variety at the George Lucas Museum gala: "I am not even thinking about casting right now. We’re just trying to get the story right."
According to Chu, his inbox is perpetually rammed with fan audition tapes and emails—hundreds a day, from all corners of the globe. Lovely enthusiasm from the world's Britney hopefuls, but he was keen to hammer home that casting isn't on his to-do list at the moment. So yes, if you see wild speculation about who's playing Spears, you can file it all under ‘nonsense’ for now.
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No casting announcements have been made since the project was first revealed back in 2024.
It's been over a year since Universal nabbed the rights to Britney Spears' memoir, but there's still no cast on board.
So, What Actually Is Happening?
What Chu is focusing on is nailing the story—he's working with Liz Meriwether (best known for New Girl) on the screenplay, which he raved about in that same interview. Meriwether is apparently busy crafting something ‘profound, beautiful’ and, by Chu's own admission, he's only seen small glimpses of her work so far. He reckons it's ‘incredible’, though he wouldn't be dragged into giving up any specifics—classic Hollywood non-answer territory, really.
The film is set to adapt Spears' 2023 bestseller, The Woman in Me. Universal snapped up the movie rights in 2024 with Marc Platt producing, so it's not some minor indie job—this is a big studio affair. As for whether Spears herself has weighed in? Chu, when pressed, was characteristically cagey: said he 'cannot say anything right now' about whether he's actually met Britney herself. He did, at least, share that he's giving his own kids an education in vintage Spears—‘Baby One More Time’ is apparently on heavy rotation at chez Chu.
Right now, the Spears biopic is still kicking around in development, with all the actual casting and production milestones still a ways off on the horizon. Anyone waiting for their favourite pop star or unknown ingenue to land the lead might be waiting a fair while.