Director Peter Berg Offers Update on Rihanna Documentary: ‘We’re Just Waiting on Her’
Attention, Navy: Rihanna‘s Amazon documentary could be coming out any day now — but of course, the last person who gets to hit the “approve for release” button is the Bad Gal herself.
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter in an interview published Thursday (Jan. 5), Peter Berg — director of Friday Night Lights, Lone Survivor and more — gave an update on the long-awaited Rihanna documentary filk that has been more than six years in the making.
According to Berg, the only thing left to do is “waiting for her to approve it. It’s done and sold, and Amazon’s ready.” He continued, “She’s a perfectionist, so we keep adding. It’s been six and a half years of filming, so, yeah, it’s ready to come out. We’re just waiting on her to say, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’ I don’t know. Maybe it’ll be a 10-year project.”
While it’s possible that the “Work” singer will want to extend the project, Berg is not worried about Rihanna giving the green light. When asked if there were any concerns about the singer not approving the documentary, Berg replied, “Not really.”
The Friday Night Lights director also revealed that he was surprised Rihanna wanted him to direct her documentary film. “When Rihanna asked me to make a doc, I thought she was joking. My work tends to be a bit more masculine, at least on the surface. But this has allowed me to dip in and out of her life while I’m doing other things,” he said. “I’ve loved it — watching her in the studio, seeing her turn Fenty into this billion-dollar entity and, now, being a mom. It’s such an enriching experience, I don’t really care how long it takes.”
News of the documentary first arose in 2016, and by 2019, it was publicized that the documentary sold to Amazon for $25 million. The untitled doc, which will be narrowed down from over 1,200 hours of footage as of 2019, will serve as an unfiltered look into Rihanna’s life and a glimpse into the evolution of one of the world’s most well-known pop artists. Berg and Rihanna previously worked together on Universal’s Battleship.
Starr Bowenbank
Billboard