Life story: Britney Spears biopic in the works

Film on former pop idol to hit TV screens next year.

NEW YORK: The turbulent life of Britney Spears, who went from teenage pop idol to tabloid fodder, is becoming a television biopic.

Lifetime, a US network geared toward women, said it had given the green light to a two-hour film on the singer’s life, to air next year.

Emerging Australian actor Natasha Bassett will be starring as Spears, one of the most recognisable musicians of her generation, a network representative said.

Bassett, who started her own career as a child, appeared as a 1950s starlet in the latest film by the Coen Brothers, Hail, Caesar!.

Lifetime said the film will trace the 34-year-old Spears from her childhood in Louisiana, where her talent was recognised early on.

Spears became one of the most successful stars of the 1990s, topping the charts with songs that combined a squeaky-clean pop sound and undertones of teenage sexuality.

But her career quickly descended amid a messy personal life that included a highly public break-up with fellow star Justin Timberlake, two marriages in 2005 alone, and being caught on camera nearly dropping one of her two children from her lap while driving.

Spears found more stability since starting a residency show in Las Vegas in late 2013. She released her ninth album, Glory, on Friday and is set to perform at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 27^th, 2016.

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