Netflix Reportedly Wants a Nine-Hour Prince Documentary to Be Cut to Six Hours

Prince, one of the fascinating, exciting, and eccentric musicians in American popular music history, is getting a documentary about his life and career. It’s just a matter of how long it’ll be.

Back in 2018, it was announced that Selma director Ava DuVernay was working on a documentary with Netflix about The Purple One. “The only way I know how to make this film is with love. And with great care,” she tweeted at the time. “I’m honored to do so and grateful for the opportunity entrusted to me by the estate.”

DuVernay has since departed the project, but filmmaker Ezra Edelman, who made 2016’s Oscar-winning O.J.: Made in America, stepped in as director. He finished his cut of the film “a while back,” according to Puck, so what’s the holdup?

For one thing, Prince’s estate apparently isn’t thrilled by the documentary. “It’s unclear what exactly peeves them,” Puck reports, “but one source insists it’s not revelations of drug use or sexual stuff. Instead, the estate argues there are things in the film that are inaccurate.”

Also, the current cut of the documentary is allegedly nine hours long, when Netflix requested it come in at six hours. Until a compromise is made, the film is being “held hostage.”