Say what you will about Madonna, one thing you can’t deny is her work ethic. At 67, the singer is still powering on with new song releases, concert tours and creative efforts.
For a while there she was involved in a biopic about herself at Universal announced in 2020, one which would’ve starred “Ozark” actress Julia Garner and been directed by Madonna who co-wrote the script with Diablo Cody and Erin Cressida Wilson.
The project was in development and early pre-production until Universal pulled the plug in 2022 over what many believed to be financing issues. In mid-2024, Madonna teased that the work had been resurrected in some new form, but there’s been nothing since then.
Now, speaking with Interview (via THR), Madonna has spoken at length about why the project effectively imploded and, yes, it came down to cost:
“I was supposed to make a movie about my life. I worked on my script for two years and spent two years at Universal Studios with the line producers doing budgeting and casting. We had a falling out, me and Universal, regarding budget because I needed – I’ve had an extraordinary life. I’ve had a huge life, so I needed a big budget.
They couldn’t get their heads around it. I found a way to make it for less money in Serbia, but I don’t think they were into the idea of – I don’t know. Maybe they just didn’t believe in me. One of their first reactions was, ‘We don’t believe you’d stay in Serbia more than four days.’ And I said, ‘Did you read the script?’ My whole life has been survival. I’m not going there for a holiday.”
Madonna then said that Netflix connected with her to make a potential series based on her life and career. Previous reports indicated “Stranger Things” producer alum Shawn Levy was working with her on developing it:
“I was in limbo when that [Universal film] fell apart, and then Netflix reached out to make a series. That was a whole other long process, because I couldn’t use the script I had with Universal unless I bought it from them for an extortionist’s price, even though I wrote it. I started trying to understand how making a series would work. It’s a very, very different process. You have to meet a lot of writers and find the right showrunner, and I couldn’t find one. This went on for another eight or nine months.”
Madonna will appear on screen again in the second season of Apple’s Hollywood satire series “The Studio” and lends her voice to a currently untitled Benoit Philippon-directed animated film about a clothes moth who wants to become a fashion designer.
