After four years of trying to get her biopic made, Madonna has revealed there has been a major set back. In 2021, Universal won a multi-studio auction to produce her life story, with Madonna co-writing and directing, alongside Diablo Cody and Erin Cressida Wilson who came on board as screenwriters. Julia Garner was then cast as Madonna in 2022, with script writing beginning shortly after.

Madonna spent two years developing the script with Universal, working on budgeting and casting. When it came time to actually commit to a number, the studio and the artist could not agree. “I’ve had an extraordinary life. I’ve had a huge life, so I needed a big budget,” she said. Universal disagreed. She tried to find a middle ground by exploring production in Serbia to cut costs, but the studio was skeptical about her commitment to filming there.

“One of their first reactions was, ‘We don’t believe you’d stay in Serbia more than four days,'” she recalled. She pushed back: “Did you read the script? My whole life has been survival. I’m not going there for a holiday.” The deal has now fallen apart.

Netflix then approached her about a series, but that reportedly came with its own complications. She explained, “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. Don’t ask.” Then she had to spend eight or nine months trying to find the right showrunner for a completely different format.

Netflix is still developing an autobiographical series about Madonna under Shawn Levy’s exclusive TV deal, though Garner is not involved. The biopic concept will appear in fictional form in Apple TV‘s The Studio Season 2, where Madonna and Garner filmed episodes at the Venice Film Festival. The film was set to chronicle her journey from Michigan through her artistic rise in New York in the 1980s up to Ray of Light in 1998.

Thoughts?

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