No, Bruno Mars is not playing Prince in a biopic
by Hanna Bubser
September 12, 2018
Funk-pop artist Bruno Mars has been showing up in Minnesota music news quite a bit in the past few days. He kicked off night one of two at the Xcel Energy Center last night (the second performance is tonight at 8) and now there is news circulating about how he's not playing the role of Prince in an upcoming biopic. Confused? Here's what we know.
Last week, The Daily Mirror (a British tabloid) published an article that claimed Mars was being lined up to play Prince in a Netflix film. After publication, the story took off as other media outlets picked it up. Since then, a representative for Mars has called the article "100 percent false" and Netflix said that they don't even have a Prince film in the works.
As for how the rumor got started in the first place, it is a little unclear. The Daily Mirror has since edited their original story to reflect the statements released from Mars's rep and Netflix. The Mirror said that their source (who is not directly named) told them: "There are a few ideas for a Prince film and while nothing is set in stone, they [Netflix] have Bruno at the top of their wish list."
Although there is not a Prince project on the horizon for Mars, the idea of him portraying the legend doesn't seem too off base when you consider the tribute performance he did at the 59th annual Grammys in 2017. He did a rendition of "Let's Go Crazy" in honor of the 33rd anniversary of Prince's Purple Rain album.