Liz Meriwether to Write Universal Screenplay Adaptation of Britney Spears Memoir ‘The Woman in Me’

Universal is developing a Britney Spears biopic based on Spears’ memoir The Woman in Me, with Emmy-nominated writer Liz Meriwether set to adapt the book into a screenplay. The project pairs Meriwether with director Jon M. Chu and producer Marc Platt, according to industry reporting published July 7, 2026.

Deadline reported that Universal acquired rights to adapt the memoir in August 2024 with Platt and Chu attached to the film. At the time, Chu had been working on an early draft outlining the story of Spears’ rise and subsequent reinvention as the McComb, Mississippi native became a global pop star behind hits including “…Baby One More Time,” “Toxic,” and “Oops!... I Did It Again!”

The Hollywood Reporter similarly described Universal’s re-teaming with the Wicked creative team, noting that Platt would produce and Chu would direct while Meriwether writes. The Hollywood Reporter also said Universal had no comment on the writer announcement.

The Woman in Me, published by Gallery Books and released in October 2023, has been described in the reports as the fastest-selling memoir in Simon & Schuster history, with more than 6 million copies sold worldwide. Spears signed a $15 million book deal in 2022, and the audiobook became the fastest-selling in the publisher’s history, with Michelle Williams reading the audio version, the reporting said.

The memoir recounts Spears’ career from teen pop stardom through high-profile relationships and her public mental health breakdown that resulted in a conservatorship she later fought to end, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The biopic is expected to follow the memoir’s overall arc as it moves from book sales and public record into feature-length storytelling.

Meriwether brings television writing and showrunning experience to the adaptation. Deadline described her as a four-time Emmy nominee and creator behind Fox’s New Girl, and also credited her with work on the FX limited series Dying for Sex and the Hulu series The Dropout, both of which drew Emmy nominations in writing and limited series categories. The Hollywood Reporter added that she is behind other recent projects including Hulu’s crime drama The Furious.

A final cast, production start date, and release window were not provided in the reports. Universal’s process, as described, moves in stages from rights acquisition in 2024 to attaching a director and producer, then bringing on a screenplay writer in 2026, setting up subsequent announcements about other creative and production roles.

For audiences, the project represents another major studio attempt to adapt a widely circulated music-star memoir into film, a trend that industry outlets have tied to the post-music-biopic pipeline. For the film industry, the writer attachment also indicates continuity with Chu and Platt’s ongoing development work since Universal took rights to the book in August 2024, while Meriwether’s involvement turns the project’s focus toward script development based on the memoir’s documented timeline.