Jon M. Chu Says Upcoming Britney Spears Film Is About Treatment of ‘Stars That We Think We Own’

Jon M. Chu is giving a bit of insight into the highly anticipated film about the life and career of pop princess Britney Spears.

“I cannot talk much about the Britney story other than I have been a Britney fan for many years,” the director told The Hollywood Reporter in a recent interview. “I saw her when she was one of 12 acts at the Shrine Auditorium. I’ve gone to many of her shows, and she’s always been someone I’ve looked up to. She represents a generation of people growing up in the 2000s and late ’90s, and she has a story that deserves to be told properly. There’s a lot about us in it.”

He continued that “we haven’t written the script yet, we haven’t hired a writer yet. But in this initial conception, I think it’s a lot about how we treat people, young people, stars that we think we own, women, mothers.”

According to Variety, Universal Pictures landed the rights to the pop princess’ best-selling memoir The Woman in Me. The best-selling book chronicles Spears’ rise to fame, her relationship with fellow child star Justin Timberlake — which included her getting pregnant and having an abortion during their time together — as well as her life under a highly restrictive 13-year conservancy. Chu was tapped to direct, and Marc Platt will produce.

“The project I might be doing isn’t a biopic story … it’s a fictional musical where I play an extremely intelligent character !!!,” Spears wrote on Instagram in September. She added, “It’s flattering to be in such good company like Jon Chu !!!”