©Courtesy of Warner Records
Madonna has partnered with filmmaker Shawn Levy to create a limited television series about her life and music, Deadline is reporting. The project is in early development at Netflix, where the latter’s production company, 21 Laps, has an exclusive television overall deal.
The singer and writer-director-producer of Deadpool & Wolverine have been discussing the limited series for some time. Details about the biographical project, including which period in Madonna’s decades-long career the story will focus on, have not yet been released.
However, the duo have decided that the limited series will tell an entirely new story. It won’t be related to the feature biopic that was in development several years ago at Universal Pictures.
After Universal announced its intentions to make a feature about her in 2020, Madonna said: “I want to convey the incredible journey that life has taken me on as an artist, a musician, a dancer – a human being, trying to make her way in this world.”
Emmy winner Julia Garner eventually became the frontrunner to play the Grammy-winning musician in the movie. She won the role after other several other actresses, including Florence Pugh, Euphoria star Alexa Demie, Odessa Young and Bebe Rexha, attended singing and dancing bootcamps to help them prepare for their audition.
Garner’s casting came before the project was scrapped in January 2023. Madonna put the film on hold to instead focus on her worldwide The Celebration Tour, which ran from October 2023 to May 2024.
The Celebration Tour was one of the fastest-selling tours of all time, as it sold more than 1.2 million tickets. Madonna made $225.4 million from the 80 shows she performed around the world.
Despite putting the feature on hold, Madonna has remained committed to the idea about bringing her life story to the screen. Last November, she hinted on Instagram that she may be pivoting from a feature biopic to a television series to share her life story.
There also isn’t any confirmation yet if Madonna will be involved in penning the limited series, after she co-wrote the proposed feature. The singer co-wrote two drafts of the movie’s script with Oscar winner Diablo Cody and Cressida Wilson (Secretary, The Girl on the Train) about large periods of her creative life.
Certified the best-selling female music artist in history, Madonna has sold 400 million records worldwide. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008.
The musician’s most recent album, 2019’s Madame X, debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart. It then went on to sell more than 500,000 copies worldwide, and became the ninth No. 1 album of her career.
Madonna’s impact on society and pop culture have gone beyond her influence in the music industry. She has challenged sexism to redefine what it means to be a powerful woman in the field.
The singer has been pushing boundaries and challenging societal norms, and has been outspoken on women’s rights and sexuality, since she started her career in the early 1980s. She has also been a strong advocate of the LGBTQ community.
Levy was chosen to help Madonna bring her life story to Netflix in part because of his diverse filmography. Prior to Deadpool & Wolverine, he helmed such movies as Cheaper by the Dozen, Night at the Museum, Date Night, Real Steel and Free Guy. He’s currently working on the Star Wars film, Star Wars: Starfighter, that will be released in 2027.
On the television side, Levy is known for working with Netflix on Stranger Things. He’s one of the streamer’s most prolific television producers, as he has worked on several shows and limited series, including The Perfect Couple and All the Light We Cannot See.