Madonna has opened up about the real reason her long-awaited biopic was shelved in 2023. Ozark star Julia Garner had been set to take on the role of the legendary singer, with Madonna directing the film herself.
Speaking to Interview magazine about her upcoming album, Confessions on a Dance Floor: Part II, Madonna revealed that she made the album after her biopic was put on hold.
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"I was supposed to make a movie about my life," the singer explained. "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. You know what I mean?"
Madonna went on to say that she found a way to make the film for less in Serbia, however she says the studio didn't seem too keen on the idea.
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"Maybe they just didn’t believe in me," she continued. "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."
Back in January 2023, Variety reported that the film had been scrapped due to Madonna deciding she wanted to work on her upcoming tour instead.
Following things not working out with Universal, Madonna says Netflix reached out to make a biographical series but that ended up encountering some huge stumbling blocks.
"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," she explained.
"That’s just the way it goes. I started trying to understand how making a series would work. It’s a very, very different process.
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"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," she continued.
"I was like, 'Good thing I have another job because I need to work, I need to create. I need to do what I was put on this earth to do.'"
Madonna will release her 15th studio album Confessions II on 3 July. The album features her collaboration with Sabrina Carpenter titled 'Bring Your Love'.
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Stephanie is a freelance news writer, who previously covered WWE and AEW for Digital Spy.
After graduating with a degree in history from Queen Mary University, London, she studied journalism at Birkbeck University.
Outside of her work at Digital Spy, she writes about pop culture, with a special focus towards Irish media and how it intersects with politics.
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