Prince documentary director calls Netflix's decision to cancel "a joke"

This was no thrown-together effort from Edelman, either. "The Book of Prince" came in at nine hours with the intent of it being turned into a six-part series. That's not surprising, as "Made in America" aired on ESPN as a five-part series, but was released in theaters as a cohesive piece to allow it to be eligible for an Oscar (which, again, it won).

Prince's estate had made a claim that the first cut of the movie was factually inaccurate and "sensationalized." The estate wanted Netflix to put Edeman's doc on the shelf, and the streaming giant agreed, perhaps out of a desire to be on the good side of Prince's estate if and when a documentary is released. Of course, Netflix can't stop Edelman from speaking on the situation.

Edelman went on the podcast "Pablo Torre Finds Out" and pulled no punches in calling Netflix's decision, and the Prince's estate's qualms, "a joke." He then explained further:

Here’s the one thing they’re allowed to do: check the film for factual  inaccuracies. Guess what? They came back with a 17-page document full of  editorial issues, not factual issues. You think I have any interest in  putting out a film that’s factually inaccurate?

Since Edelman spent five years making his shelved, nine-hour documentary, we'll give him one more block quote reflecting his frustrations:

The irony being that Prince was somebody that fought for artistic  freedom, who didn’t want to be held down by Warner Bros. who he believed  was stifling his output. Now, in this case, it’s like, by the way I’m  not Prince, but I worked really hard making something and now my art’s  being stifled and thrown away.

Prince fans, and documentary fans, are likely disappointed right now. While Netflix does clearly intend to eventually release a Prince doc, it seems clear it will only do so once the Prince estate is happy with the end result, and this reflects an ongoing concern in the documentary space. Far too often, documentary subjects are actively involved in producing and shaping the docs about them. Prince is no longer around, but his estate is exerting clear influence over a studio in a way that is going to shape the documentary into being something that offers the "right kind" of accuracy. Famed documentarian Ken Burns discussed this on Neal Brennan's "Blocks" podcast, so perhaps we'll let him have the last word.

(h/t Variety)