Documentary about Olivia Newton-John in works

Major news for fans hopelessly devoted to Olivia Newton-John: a documentary in production about the late singer and actress will be heading to Netflix.

The giant streamer announced on Tuesday the untitled project is being directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Nicole Newnham (Crip Camp, The Disappearance of Shere Hite). 

The documentary – from R.J. Cutler’s This Machine (a division of Sony Pictures Television) – will explore “the music, life, and magic of beloved pop star and cultural phenom Olivia Newton-John,” according to a release. “In her own words, through vivid archival and via reminiscences from close friends and collaborators, we’ll follow Olivia’s journey as the world falls madly in love with her and she ascends to the height of fame, only to be confronted by challenges of epic proportions.”

Newton-John, who was born in England and moved with her family to Australia at the age of five, began her music career in her teens. 

In 1973, she reached the top 10 on the U.S. charts with the country tune “Let Me Be There,” which also earned her a Grammy, but triggered some backlash among purists unhappy that a non-American or Canadian would be singing in that genre. Later, she found crossover success with the pop-flavored songs “I Honestly Love You” and “Have You Never Been Mellow.”

Even greater fame awaited when she teamed up with John Travolta for the movie musical Grease in 1978; it became a box office smash and yielded numerous hit singles, including “You’re the One that I Want,” “Hopelessly Devoted to You,” and “Summer Nights.” The follow-up musical "Xanadu" (1980), in which she costarred with screen legend Gene Kelly, failed to live up to "Grease", but the movie’s title single became a hit.

During a career that alternated between the recording studio and the soundstage, she won four Grammys, six American Music Awards, a Daytime Emmy, and a Golden Globe nomination for her work in Grease. 

Beloved for her sunny personality and charm, she devoted herself to environmental causes and later became an advocate for cancer research and testing after she was diagnosed with breast cancer in the early 1990s. She faced several recurrences of breast cancer and died in 2022 at the age of 73.

“This is the story of a woman who was perpetually underestimated despite her mesmerizing talent, ultimately silencing her detractors by pushing through phenomenal loss and pain with grace and gratitude,” the release notes. “By discovering how to stay true to her beliefs, Olivia changed our culture for the better, bending it towards kindness, inclusivity, and love.”

In a statement, director Nicole Newnham said, “Olivia always signed her letters ‘love and light’ and that is the shimmering and hopeful legacy she has left us. As a young girl, I fell in love with her, listening to Grease on the record player on repeat. But this unique filmmaking journey – deep into the archives and into the amazing community of Olivia’s close friends and family – has revealed a complex and extraordinary woman whose impact on the world is still rippling outwards.”

R.J. Cutler and This Machine credits include "Billie Elish: The World’s a Little Blurry" for Apple TV+; "Elton John: Never Too Late", for Disney+, and "Martha", Cutler’s documentary about Martha Stewart for Netflix.

“This Machine is so thrilled to be working with Netflix again— building on the success of Martha and Karol G: Tomorrow Was Beautiful,” Cutler said in a statement. “And we are so honored to be working with the brilliant director Nicole Newnham again — with whom we had the great pleasure of collaborating on The Disappearance of Shere Hite.”

Producers of the untitled Olivia Newton-John film are This Machine’s R.J. Cutler, Elise Pearlstein and Trevor Smith, and Margaret Yen, along with Howard Gertler. Executive Producers include Mark Blatty for This Machine and Larry Mestel and Natalia Nastaskin of Primary Wave.