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Britney Biopic in Works as Universal Buys Memoir Rights

US pop star Britney Spears. (Reuters)
US pop star Britney Spears. (Reuters)
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Britney Biopic in Works as Universal Buys Memoir Rights

US pop star Britney Spears. (Reuters)
US pop star Britney Spears. (Reuters)

A Britney Spears biopic is in development after Universal Pictures bought movie rights to the pop star's best-selling memoir, the Hollywood studio announced Thursday.
"Crazy Rich Asians" director Jon Chu is attached to develop and direct the film, based on Spears's recent autobiographical book "The Woman In Me," the company said in a statement to AFP.
Universal won a "highly competitive auction" for the film adaptation rights, with "La La Land" producer Marc Platt due to oversee the project, it said.
"Excited to share with my fans that I've been working on a secret project with #MarcPlatt. He's always made my favorite movies," Spears herself posted on social media Thursday.
"Stay tuned," she told fans.
"The Woman In Me" laid bare the troubled singer's journey from child star to global pop phenomenon, as well as her subsequent high-profile public breakdown and legal battles with her father.
Full of criticism of her controlling family and an industry that mercilessly devours its talent, the book sold over 2.5 million copies in the United States alone following its publication last October.
Spears's phenomenal early music success with late 1990s hits like "...Baby One More Time" coincided with an aggressive paparazzi culture that delighted in capturing her partying alongside hell-raisers like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan.
In the book, Spears revealed that Justin Timberlake urged her to have an abortion after she became pregnant during their relationship.
And she shared details of her brief but intense affair with Irish actor and Oscar nominee Colin Farrell, which she called "a two-week brawl."
Following Spears's public breakdown, she was placed under the conservatorship of her father Jamie Spears, who controlled her money and her personal life, even as she continued to perform high-profile concerts.
The conservatorship was dissolved by a Los Angeles court in 2021, after a groundswell of public support to "Free Britney."
Her father has always insisted that he had the best interests of his daughter at heart and was seeking to protect her from exploitation.
No release date has been set for the Britney film.
Universal has previously released musical biopics about hip-hop group N.W.A ("Straight Outta Compton") and rapper Eminem ("8 Mile.")
Chu is also directing Universal's big-budget, two-part movie adaptation of the musical "Wicked," with the first film out in November.

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Don’t Panic! Taylor Swift Warns Fans to Expect Sirens for WWII Anniversary in Warsaw Before Concert 

A steward guides fans of US singer Taylor Swift, also known as Swifties, as they arrive to buy merchandise outside the National Stadium in Warsaw on July 31, 2024, a day before the first of three shows of the pop star's Eras Tour. (AFP)
A steward guides fans of US singer Taylor Swift, also known as Swifties, as they arrive to buy merchandise outside the National Stadium in Warsaw on July 31, 2024, a day before the first of three shows of the pop star's Eras Tour. (AFP)
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Don’t Panic! Taylor Swift Warns Fans to Expect Sirens for WWII Anniversary in Warsaw Before Concert 

A steward guides fans of US singer Taylor Swift, also known as Swifties, as they arrive to buy merchandise outside the National Stadium in Warsaw on July 31, 2024, a day before the first of three shows of the pop star's Eras Tour. (AFP)
A steward guides fans of US singer Taylor Swift, also known as Swifties, as they arrive to buy merchandise outside the National Stadium in Warsaw on July 31, 2024, a day before the first of three shows of the pop star's Eras Tour. (AFP)

Taylor Swift is telling fans traveling to her concert in Warsaw on Thursday to not panic, and expect to hear loud sirens in the afternoon honoring a key World War II anniversary.

The Polish capital is holding observances to mark the 80th anniversary of the start of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, a 63-day revolt by Polish insurgents after five years of brutal Nazi German occupation. The entire city stops and alarm sirens sound every year on Aug. 1 at the exact time in the afternoon when the revolt was launched.

“To the people who are coming to the concert on August 1st don’t panic if you heard sirens alarm about 5p.m. It will be 80th anniversary & planes!” Swift's “The Eras Tour” posted on social media.

Thousands of ticket-holders, many who are traveling to Warsaw from afar, will be in or near the stadium at that time already for the evening performance.

A Polish news site, Onet, also published an “important message for all Swifties who are going to the concert” explaining the significance of the day.

“We ask you to remain calm and not to panic. In this way every year residents pay tribute to the heroes of 1944. Those who will be at that moment already outside the stadium, please remain quiet and get up.”

Swift is performing for three consecutive nights in Warsaw starting Thursday.

On Aug. 1, 1944, poorly armed young city residents rose up against the German forces that had brutally occupied their nation for five years, battling them in the streets of the capital for over two months. The Soviets were approaching in their march westward against the German forces, and the Poles held out hope for help.

The Germans, with their professional army and superior weaponry, killed 200,000 Polish fighters and civilians and razed the city in revenge.

Germany in past decades has made many gestures of remorse, helping to bring about reconciliation.

Poles, however, remain bitter toward the Soviets for allowing the slaughter when they could have intervened.

Today the uprising is remembered by Poles as one of the most important moments in a long history of independence struggles against Russia and Germany.