Britney Spears' biopic writer insists it is 'the right time' for film

The writer of Britney Spears' biopic thinks it is the "right time" for the movie.

New Girl creator Liz Meriwether is writing the screenplay for the long-awaited movie, which will be directed by Jon M. Chu and based on the Toxic singer's 2023 memoir The Woman in Me, and she believes now is the "right moment" to look back on the pop star's teenage rise to fame and subsequent meltdown in the wake of public scrutiny, which resulted in her being placed under a conservatorship for almost 14 years until November 2021.

Liz told Vanity Fair magazine: "You find yourself in these conversations and everything seems normal, and then you go back 10 years later and look at that conversation and the whole foundation of it was wrong.

"I do think it’s the right time for this movie and the right moment to be looking back and thinking about it. I’m almost exactly her age, and I’m really excited to think about how to retell that story.”

Liz is "at the beginning of the process" of writing her script but is looking forward to getting stuck into the topic.

She said: “I’m really at the beginning of the process of thinking about it. But I do feel like what she experienced was pretty unique for the moment that it was happening, almost a perfect storm of attention and new forms of media.”

The 44-year-old writer recently revealed she has been immersing herself in Britney's "whole catalogue" while working on the project.

She said: “I’ve been listening to a lot of music that was happening around the time that she was making music. That’s out of necessity. I want to just get the feeling that moment in time or just remind myself...

“I really love ‘Perfume’ and ‘If I’m Dancing.’ She’s made a lot of albums. Her hits have been such big hits that I think there are a lot of songs that people don’t think of."

Last year, director Chu said Britney will be "very involved" in the biopic.

Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, he said: "She [Britney] is going to be very involved.

"We haven't really started anything yet; but she will be very involved.

"I have ideas and an approach and things, but it's very, very early."

When Sabrina Carpenter, who, like Britney, was a Disney star before launching a successful pop music career, and Euphoria actress Sydney Sweeney, 27, were suggested as potential stars to play the Lucky singer, Jon replied: "I have seen all the fan castings and all that stuff and I always take those in consideration, because maybe there is a good idea out there, but we will have to see what the approach of the movie is before we know who is right for it.

"But I am hoping for anything, really."

The filmmaker previously revealed he saw a different side to Britney after reading The Woman in Me, and he wants to "honour" her "human" side.

He told Bustle: "She’s always been this icon, but ultimately, especially more recently after reading her book, she’d become human to me.

"I think that is so beautiful. I hope to convey that humanity and the spectacle of what she is in all her glory.

"(I want to explore) what we expect from people that we think are ours. “They’re their own people, and we have to respect that."

Millie Bobby Brown, Emma Roberts and Olivia Holt have all said they would love to play Britney in a biopic.

Speaking on The Drew Barrymore Show in 2022, Stranger Things star Millie said: "I wanna play a real person... I think her story, first of all, resonates with me."