Every Outposter of a certain age will remember when Britney Spears exploded onto the scene and pretty much revived the teen pop genre, capturing the attention of millions of teenage girls, and teenage boys for entirely different reasons.
Her career went on longer than many would have expected, as she successfully developed and crossed genres, evolving as popular music did through the early 2000s. We then got to see the textbook example of the problems with the US entertainment industry played out in real time.
Manufactured and hyper-managed “stars” from production lines such as the Mickey Mouse Club, no doubt exposed to all sorts of questionable conduct while under enormous pressure, with everyone wanting a piece of the action and creaming their percentages off the top.
Mental health issues, tabloid intrusion, near collapse. All of this proving the rumors and suspicions about the industry as a sea of sharks were true.
Lately, we even had the “leave Britney alone” movement on social media as legions of the ill-informed successfully campaigned to have Britney’s conservatorship lifted.
That proved to be a real good idea, didn’t it? Well done women and gay men everywhere. Flawless victory.
Now Britney Jean Spears will tell her side of the story on film. According to The Hollywood Reporter her best -selling memoir The Woman In Me will be adapted by Universal pictures.
The 2023 book has sold 2.5 million copies in the United States alone and was the fastest-selling audiobook in Simon & Schuster’s history. There is a joke to be made here about audiobooks but I am not cruel enough to make it. You can fill in the blanks.
One of the big stories from the book was the secret abortion she had while dating then-boyfriend Justin Timberlake. Speculation is rife that this was forced on her by industry management on all sides.
Wicked director Jon M. Chu (who else!) is attached to direct the film. Marc Platt is set to produce. Britney confirmed the news in a social media post:
“Excited to share with my fans that I’ve been working on a secret project with #MarcPlatt. He’s always made my favorite movies … stay tuned.”