A Film About Wu-Tang's Controversial 'Once Upon A Time In Shaolin' Album Is In The Works

The film is being made for Netflix.

A film centered around Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, the one-of-a-kind album from Wu-Tang Clan, is in the works.

In a report from Collider, the film will be directed by Paul Downs Colaizzo and produced by RZA and Brad Pitt's production company Plan B. The script is being written Ian Edelman.

Made by Cilvaringz and RZA, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin is a divisive album. Domingo Neris and James Ellis, the managers for Wu members U-God and Method Man, respectively, have previously spoken on the project, with Neris saying it's "not an authorized Wu-Tang Clan album."

The album gained controversy when it was purchased by Martin Shkreli in 2015 for $2 million. Two years later, Shkreli ended up selling the album. The former pharmaceutical executive is currently serving a seven year sentence in prison for fraud. As part of his sentence, Shkreli was forced to forfeit the one-of-one Wu-Tang Clan album. He appealed for an early release due to coronavirus concerns, but was denied.

Despite the controversy, RZA has said that he doesn't regret making the album.

"From the time that project existed, it was a proper time to do what it did," RZA said in an interview with Business Insider. "I'm strongly against the devaluation of music, I'm strongly against entitlement that people feel about music. That campaign was a political and artistic exploration into that."

"Now, how it ended up in that dude's hands and all that stuff, to me, I would do it again because that's the myth of Wu. Wu-Tang also has a mythology about it," he added. "It wasn't like this was talked about in our neighborhood. We among ourselves argued about it, but when that was done, it still continues across the globe. So I think it was something very unique and a great asset to the Wu-Tang legacy."