Sydney Sweeney rumoured to play Britney Spears in upcoming biopic as singer in "advanced talks" over movie

Hollywood star Sydney Sweeney looks set to follow in the footsteps of Austin Butler and Kingsley Ben-Adir after being heavily linked with starring in a biopic.

Sweeney, 26, skyrocketed to fame with her roles in HBO drama Euphoria and Netflix’s The White Lotus, and has become one of the most sought-after names in the world of cinema. Now, she’s being lined up for a 90s throwback as rumours circulate about a Britney Spears movie. Spears' ground-breaking memoir The Woman in Me was one of the most popular books of 2023, and the singer is said to be in talks about turning the best-seller - in which Britney discussed topics such as being under her controversial 13-year conservatorship, and why she shaved her head in 2007 - into a movie.

The Sunday Mirror reported that these talks are at an “advanced” stage already, following an ongoing trend of biopics about singers. Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black recently hit cinemas, following the release of movies such as Bob Marley: One Love and Elvis in 2022.

According to gambling.com, Sweeney’s odds of playing Britney Spears stand at 5/4, making her the second favourite to take the role. Currently leading the charge is Millie Bobbie Brown - the Stranger Things star admitted way back in 2022 that she would love to portray Britney one day, because 20-year-old Millie thinks she could tell her story "in the right way".

She told The Drew Barrymore Show at the time: “I want to play a real person and I think for me, Britney. [It] would be Britney Spears. I think her story, first of all, resonates with me. Just growing up in the public eye watching her videos, watching interviews of how when she was younger. I mean, same thing with you.

“I see the scramble for words [in her interviews] and I don't know her, but when I look at pictures of her, I feel like I could tell her story in the right way and hers only.”

While now potentially in advanced talks over a biopic, Spears was less than impressed at the time. Posting on Instagram, she said: “I hear about people wanting to do movies about my life … dude I'm not dead!”

If a Britney film does materialise without a green light from the star, it wouldn't be the first time such a project has been made without any input from her. Two previous documentaries made about her life and the #FreeBritney campaign to have her released from her conservatorship - which ended in November 2021 - were not authorised by her.

In an Instagram post about one of the films, she said: “It’s really crazy guys - I watched a little bit of the last documentary and I must say I scratched my head a couple of times. I really try to disassociate myself from the drama.”