R.I.P. to the Madonna biopic

Madonna wants you to bring your love, and also your money. If you can’t bring both, we’re never getting her biopic. In her 10th (!) cover story for Interview, the Material Girl revealed that “a falling out” with Universal Pictures over her much-delayed biopic led to the film being totally scrapped. Madonna told Interview editor-in-chief Mel Ottenberg that she had spent years working on the project’s script, casting, and production. “I’ve had an extraordinary life. I’ve had a huge life, so I needed a big budget. You know what I mean?” she said. “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.” Madge further claimed Universal didn’t believe she’d “stay in Serbia more than four days,” a concept the pop legend scoffed at. She later tried to make a series with Netflix, but Universal would only sell the script, as Madonna claims, “for an extortionist’s price.” “Don’t ask,” she added, pointedly. 

The death of Madonna’s biopic, which had been in the works since 2020 and was set to star Julia Garner, who claimed she had learned to dance under Madonna’s grueling regimen for the film, did pave the way for her latest album: Confessions II, due out July 3 with assists from Sabrina Carpenter and Arca. She told Ottenberg that this music came from her needing to do “what I was put on this earth to do.” Plus, Garner got to star in a short film attached to the album, so she was briefly allowed to enact her role as the Queen of Pop even without Universal’s blessing or budget.

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