Here’s Why Britney Spears Biopic Director Jon M. Chu Is ‘Not Even Thinking About Casting’ Yet
"We're just trying to get the story right," Chu says.
Britney Spears performs at the The Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center in New York City.
Whoever gets the very big role of Britney Spears on the big screen will have some seriously sparkly shoes to fill. But for now, director Jon. M Chu isn’t even thinking about who might be stepping into them.
While attending the opening gala of the George Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles over the weekend, the Wicked filmmaker gave a small update on Universal Pictures’ highly anticipated Britney Spears biopic. He made it evident that the casting search can wait, and instead emphasized the importance of telling her story correctly.
“I am not even thinking about casting right now,” Chu told Variety‘s Marc Malkin. “We’re just trying to get the story right.”
That story is currently sitting with writer Liz Meriwether, who is adapting Spears’ bestselling 2023 memoir The Woman in Me for the big screen. Chu has already taken a peek at some of Meriwether’s work, and while he was careful not to reveal too many details, he had some enthusiastic words to share about what he’s seen.
“She’s doing so many beautiful things and I may or may not have gotten glimpses of what she’s been doing and it’s incredible,” he said. “It’s incredible, profound, beautiful. And that’s all I can say about it. You already got me to say too much.”
The director said he receives “hundreds of emails” from people around the world sending in unsolicited auditions for the beloved role, but he isn’t ready to start making casting decisions just yet. No actors have officially been announced for the project.
Chu also played coy when asked whether he’s been spending time with Spears herself, responding, “I cannot say anything right now.”
The film was first announced in 2024 after Universal Pictures acquired the rights to Spears’ memoir, with Chu attached to direct and Marc Platt producing. Meriwether, best known for creating New Girl and co-creating Dying for Sex, joined the project as a screenwriter earlier this year.
Meriwether previously told Variety that adapting Spears’ life into a feature film has required her to think differently about storytelling. “I haven’t written for a movie in a long time,” she said in August. “It’s just trying to think in a two-hour story as opposed to like an eight-hour story.”
