Madonna the film is being placed on the back burner while Madonna the singer embarks on a world tour. That’s the news out of Hollywood, where it’s being reported by several publications that Universal Pictures is no longer developing the long-awaited biopic that would have been directed by the iconic singer herself.
Production on the film was anticipated to begin this year, but that possibility seemed unlikely after Madonna announced last week that she was going on a “Celebration Tour” of 40 major cities beginning in July in Vancouver. Though neither Madonna nor Universal have yet commented on reports about the movie, insider sources believe the singer is still intent on making that biopic sometime in the future.
Madonna, 64, has been quoted as saying she’s determined to do the film “because a bunch of people have tried to write movies about me, but they’re always men.”
News about the proposed film were first announced in 2020 with Julia Garner reportedly expected to take on the lead role, edging out Madonnabes that included Florence Pugh, Alexa Demie, Odessa Young, and Bebe Rexha. Madonna had already worked on drafts of the script with Diablo Cody and Erin Cressida Wilson, the latter of whom had worked on Secretary and The Girl on the Train.
The most recent studio album by Madonna, Madame X, debuted in 2019. In 2022, she joined Beyoncé on a remix of the single “Break My Soul” that included a riff on “Vogue,” a song she released in 1990 to much critical acclaim.
The shelved biopic was originally brought to Universal by Donna Langley and Amy Pascal. Langley is group chair of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group while Pascal’s production company is located on the Universal lot. Executive producers would have been Sara Bamreno and Madonna’s manager, Guy Oseary.
Madonna is no stranger to the director’s chair. In 2008, she helmed Filth and Wisdom, a dramedy set in the UK. Three years later, she directed W.E., a dramatization of the affair between the Duke and Duchess of Windsor that led to his abdication as King Edward VIII.
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