Prince Harry's planned tribute documentary about his late mother, Princess Diana, is already being tipped to become the highest-earning documentary in Hollywood history. Studio bosses believe next year's film, which will mark the 30th anniversary of Diana's death, is destined to be "box office dynamite," according to a senior production source.
Potential earnings and financial pressures
"They are banking on it being a global phenomenon, first on the big screen and then streaming on TV. And it's going to make a fortune for Harry, Meghan and their Archewell production company," the source said.
"From this one project, it is even possible that in one shot they will earn more than the entire $100 million (£75m) five-year contract they signed with Netflix when they first arrived in America. It's that big of a deal."
The prospect of such an enormous cash windfall comes as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex face mounting financial strains. Harry must pay a major share of legal costs of up to £34.5 over his failed High Court privacy lawsuit against a major UK newspaper group. Meghan is saddled with a warehouse full of a reported £7.5 million worth of unsold perishable jams and preserves ordered by her online lifestyle company As Ever.
They are also paying for the upkeep of their £11 million mansion in Montecito, California, their £6.3m holiday home near Comporta, Portugal, as well as house-hunting for a new property in the Cotswolds, where they relocated last month, with a reported "target budget" of up to £12m.
Industry speculation and Netflix talks
At the same time, their production company is seemingly at such a low ebb that as the royal couple were flying back to Britain, showbiz "bible" The Hollywood Reporter posed the headline question: "Is It Curtains For Archewell Productions?"
US media financial consultant Martin Wigutow said: "If their Diana documentary is the success the industry is beginning to predict, they will solve all their fiscal woes in one fell swoop. It would be quite something for them to turn around what looked like ultimate abject defeat in America – despite a very lucrative start there."
The Sunday Express can today reveal that Harry has been in talks with Netflix over a Diana documentary since March this year. The source confirmed: "He and Meghan are in an incredibly commanding position because of their 'first look' deal with Netflix.
"It means that, in theory, they could spark a bidding war between every major studio in Hollywood – and, believe me, there isn't one that would turn this down. I don't think that will happen, however, because Netflix executives really want this and they have the biggest cheque book in town. I can't see Harry and Meghan walking away from their eventual firm and final offer because we're talking about a studio that is always prepared to pay top dollar for what they want."
Record-breaking potential and roles
Bosses at the streaming giant believe that a 30th anniversary Diana tribute on general cinema release could easily eclipse the current box office record for a documentary film. That currently belongs to Michael Jackson's This Is It, which tracked the behind-the-scenes build up to the King of Pop's swansong concert series that never happened and was released in 2009, the year he died from a massive drug overdose. It earned £201 million worldwide, which is still an astonishing amount for any documentary but could easily be doubled, studio chiefs believe, by next year's as yet untitled tribute to Diana.
"Princess Di is still loved by people in every corner of the planet," the production source said, "so green-lighting this film was an absolute no-brainer."
The Sunday Express can today reveal that as well as Prince Harry presenting the two hour-plus documentary on screen himself, executives at Netflix also want Meghan to narrate the harrowing story of Diana's death in a horrific Paris car crash in August 1997 and the subsequent investigation into how it happened.
"It's a win-win for everyone. Who better to present than Diana's own son? And even though having Meghan narrate is a move that may upset members of the Royal Family as well as her detractors on both sides of the Atlantic, it adds a poignant note because Meghan is, of course, the daughter-in-law Diana never got to meet."
Requests for comment from spokespeople at Netflix and Archewell in Los Angeles were not returned.
