It’s the most expensive record ever sold — and almost no one has even heard it. 

Wu-Tang Clan’s seventh studio album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, was recorded in secret over six years, sealed in an ornate silver case, and first sold at a 2015 auction for a reported $2 million, under terms barring any commercial release until 2103. 

In the years since, the record — and the story of how it came to be — has become the stuff of legend for hip-hop fans. Now, a new documentary on the album’s unlikely origins and controversial reception sets out to tell that story. After making its world premiere at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, The Disciple: A Wu-Tang Fable, from Academy Award–winning filmmaker Joanna Natasegara, will arrive on Netflix Oct. 16. 

Get a first glimpse at the documentary by watching the trailer above, and read on for everything to know about the documentary.

What is The Disciple about?

The film follows Tarik Azzougarh — a Dutch-Moroccan Wu-Tang superfan performing as Cilvaringz — who talks his way into Wu-Tang Clan's inner circle and becomes the driving force behind the record at the center of the saga. What the MC and Wu-Tang set out to make was less an album than a provocation: a single, inimitable work of art conceived as a rebuke to a streaming era that had reduced music to disposable content — and built with full knowledge that it would court global controversy. Driving the project were two very different impulses: an appetite for a grand, potentially divisive gesture, and Wu-Tang Clan’s refusal to make anything less than a masterpiece. 

What is the release date?

The Disciple premieres on Oct. 16. 

Who are the filmmakers behind The Disciple? 

The documentary marks Natasegara’s (The White Helmets, The Edge of Democracy) feature directorial debut. Abigail Anketell-Jones, Lauren Dark, and Vanessa Kirby produce.

Executive producers include The RZA, Joe Gebbia, Jason Ropell, and Abazar Khayami; David Kimbangi, Farhana Bhula, and Ollie Madden for Film4; and Trevor Burgess, Gary Hess, and James Costa for Bird Street Productions. 

“For the last five years, making this film has been a labor of love and discovery,” Natasegara says. “Initially I was inspired by a teenhood love of Wu-Tang and a story about the secret album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin too intriguing to miss. In the making, I discovered so much more about why Tarik, myself, and so many of us idolize them. They stand for so much that is so needed right now — community, talent, tenacity, innovation, and love. I'm so thrilled audiences will get to spend time in this world I've loved so much.”

“The documentary is a pure complement to the time,” The RZA says. “Joanna lived it out. She had the word become flesh all the way. That’s the same thing with the album itself. There’s very few cases where a fan actually gets to stand beside the man and add onto the man’s legacy. Here’s a guy who scraped his dollars together, came to the club, and out of all the people there, he gets pulled on stage by Ol' Dirty Bastard. In all reality, he gets pulled into the cipher of Wu-Tang. And now his legacy is cemented.”

“The album itself is a political statement about the devaluation of music as an art form, particularly the work of artists of color, in an increasingly corporate music industry,” Natasegara says. “The Clan’s colossal respect and international success gave that message enormous credibility and noise, until unforeseen circumstances brought a series of curveballs that complicated the story. More than a decade after its launch, the existence of Once Upon a Time in Shaolin as a single copy still resonates, and its relevance to the music world is as pertinent as ever."

Chloë Lambourne and Chris Dickens edited the film. 

The Disciple: A Wu-Tang Fable is a Netflix Documentary in association with Studio Gebbia, Film4, 36 Cinema, Sony Music Vision; an Aluna Entertainment and Violet Films production.  

Stay tuned for more updates on the documentary ahead of its October streaming premiere.