Ava DuVernay is seeing purple. According to Deadline, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker is preparing to make a documentary about Prince that will be released by Netflix. And rest assured, hardcore fans: the director has received the full blessing of the late icon’s estate and has already visited Paisley Park several times, accompanied by members of her production team and editor Spencer Averick. She’s also been granted full access to his archival recordings and previously unreleased material—which, as any Prince fan knows, is a vast wonderland with thousands and thousands of tapes of saved material.
That’s notable, considering Prince’s history. The artist carefully guarded his music at all costs, clashing with labels and the rise of streaming platforms (save for Tidal, briefly). The guardians of his legacy have had to tread carefully without him, protecting an estate worth an estimated $150 million—all of which makes the depth of DuVernay’s access more thrilling.
“Prince was a genius and a joy and a jolt to the senses,” DuVernay said in a statement to Deadline. “He was like no other. He shattered every preconceived notion, smashed every boundary, shared everything in his heart through his music. The only way I know how to make this film is with love. And with great care. I’m honored to do so and grateful for the opportunity entrusted to me by the estate.”
Per Deadline, Prince apparently was a fan of DuVernay’s, reaching out to her about a potential project before his death in 2016. (Representatives for DuVernay have not yet confirmed that detail to Vanity Fair.) Though his estate has posthumously released songs from the vault, including giving Spike Lee special access to a rare Prince recording for the soundtrack to BlacKkKlansman, this documentary is on a much bigger scale than any of the estate’s previous undertakings.
The Prince doc will be DuVernay’s second doc pairing with the streaming platform, following the success of her 2016 feature, 13th. She’s also working on a miniseries about the Central Park Five for the platform, which is set to star Michael K. Williams, Vera Farmiga, John Leguizamo, and Adepero Oduye, among others. Beyond Netflix, she’s also working on a superhero adaptation of The New Gods. A cast has not yet been announced.
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