Netflix to release Wu-Tang Clan documentary on rare $2 million album

Netflix has acquired the rights to ‘The Disciple: A Wu-Tang Fable’, a documentary directed by Oscar winner Joanna Natasegara. The film is scheduled to premiere on the platform on October 16, 2026, following its debut at the Sundance Film Festival.

The documentary explores the creation of ‘Once Upon a Time in Shaolin’, a highly unconventional hip-hop project consisting of 31 tracks produced as a single physical copy. Created by RZA and Tarik Azzougarh (known as Cilvaringz), the project was intended as a protest against the digital consumption of music, treating the album as a unique piece of art rather than a streamable commodity.

In 2015, the lone physical copy was sold at auction for approximately $2 million to Martin Shkreli. The album's history became further complicated following Shkreli’s conviction for securities fraud and the subsequent seizure of the record by American authorities. RZA serves as an executive producer on the film.