Britney Spears’ memoir adaptation The Woman In Me to be directed by Jon M. Chu

It was only a matter of time before Britney Spears’ memoir was adapted into a major motion picture. There’s a little bit of Spears in every modern depiction of an up-and-coming pop star, those stories that explore the danger and the glamor, the sexuality and exploitation of those cultural icons. But the truth of Spears’ story was often stranger than fiction, as evidenced by her bestselling 2023 memoir The Woman In Me. Per Deadline, Spears’ memoir adaptation has been snatched up by Universal Pictures, with Wicked’s Jon M. Chu set to direct and Marc Platt (Wicked, Dear Evan Hansen, La La Land) producing.

Chu and Spears both teased the news on social media before the announcement, indicating a “secret project” in the works. “Excited to share with my fans that I’ve been working on a secret project with #MarcPlatt,” Spears wrote on Twitter. “He’s always made my favorite movies … stay tuned.” According to The Ankler, bidding for the rights to adapt Spears’ memoir was a competitive situation. Sony, Warner Brothers, Fox, Disney, and Netflix were all reportedly interested, as were the production companies of Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, and Shonda Rhimes (who wrote the Spears’ vehicle Crossroads back in the day).

Spears’ appreciation of Platt’s work may have helped push Universal’s bid over the edge, and the pair’s experience with musicals (Chu also directed In The Heights and Step Up 2: The Streets, as well as Justin Bieber’s concert film Never Say Never) helps, too. There aren’t any additional details for the film yet, but it’s safe to assume this is going to be a musical biopic; a source tells The Ankler that part of Universal’s eight-figure deal included Spears’ music catalog. 

The Woman In Me was published after Spears’ contentious battle with her father, Jamie Spears, to escape the conservatorship she was under for more than a decade. She was originally placed under the conservatorship after some highly publicized mental health episodes in the early 2000s, but under the conservatorship she lost control of her career and personal life. After a long period of mystery behind the scenes, the singer became vocal about the exploitation she’d endured at the hands of her family and the perils of fame she’d experienced starting as a child star on the Mickey Mouse Club through her solo career. The memoir was extremely well received, and no doubt people will similarly show up in droves for the upcoming film. Move over Madonna boot camp, the Britney casting process is the hot new audition in town…