Though Pharrell Williams found success with his unconventional autobiographical Lego documentary, Piece By Piece, lightning won’t strike twice for the “Happy” singer. Variety reports that Universal has permanently shelved his star-studded upcoming film, Golden, in post-production. Formerly going under the title Atlantis, the movie would’ve been a semi-autobiographical musical exploration of his childhood featuring a star-studded cast headlined by Halle Bailey and Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind director Michel Gondry at the helm. It was initially set to release in theaters on May 5.

While the scrapping of a film so close to release brings to mind the extreme cost-cutting of Warner Bros. with Batgirl and Acme vs. Coyote, Golden‘s case is much different. Unlike Piece By Piece, which focused on Williams‘s life and career, this project was meant to widen the lens to focus on what it was like for him growing up in the Atlantis Apartments in Virginia Beach in 1977. “It’s a coming-of-age story about self-discovery and pursuing your dreams, but it’s so much more magical than that. It’s a celebration of Black life, Black culture, and most importantly, Black joy,” the artist told Empire in November. Sources close to the situation said the project ultimately shut down after the producers and Gondry all agreed that their work didn’t live up to the vision they had.

In a joint statement to Variety, Williams and Gondry said “When all of us got into the editing room we collectively decided there wasn’t a path forward to tell the version of this story that we originally envisioned. We appreciate all the hard work of the talented cast and crew. While we’re disappointed we can’t deliver this film, we have incredible partners at Universal and will collaborate in a different capacity again soon.” Universal is expected to take a roughly $20 million hit to cover the expenses and everyone has already been compensated for their work. While it stings that Golden will go unreleased for the company, they view it as a necessary pain to preserve their relationship with Williams, who has an overall deal with them through which he debuted Piece By Piece. That strange confluence of circumstances makes this shelving an especially peculiar one since it was more creative-driven than cash-driven.

Who Else Was Involved in the Making of ‘Golden’?

Even compared to Piece By Piece and its many Legofied cameos, Golden featured a monster ensemble around Bailey and Harrison Jr. Joining them would’ve been Oscar winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph, alongside Brian Tyree Henry, Janelle Monáe, Missy Elliott, Quinta Brunson, Anderson .Paak, and Jaboukie Young-White. Additionally, EGOT-winning songwriting duo Pasek and Paul were involved in creating original music for the film in collaboration with Williams. That’s an unfortunate amount of talent whose work won’t see the light of day and, according to .Paak, there were at least promising signs during the filmmaking process. In an interview with Collider‘s Perri Nemiroff at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, he had high praise for Gondry‘s process and how the cast and music were coming together, saying:

“Michel is a genius, and the way he worked, it was cool to see how he allows the actors to make it their own. It was cool to see that he’s developing things on the spot. Yes, we have a script, but he wasn’t afraid to go off-script and let people try different things. You try a run, and then you wanna see, ‘How did I do?’ And he’s just kind of looking at you. He’s very playful, very silly, and it was just a fun atmosphere to be in. It’s a musical, so I think it’s gonna be really awesome. I got to see a little bit of what they shot, and I came in kind of on the latter end of the shoot. But yeah, I really enjoyed it. It was great music and a great cast.”

While Golden won’t be releasing, Williams‘s documentary Piece By Piece is available to stream now on Peacock.