Madonna's cinematic dreams have hit a brick wall – or rather, it seems, Universal Studios' bottom line has. The Queen of Pop has confirmed that the long-planned biopic detailing her extraordinary life story was scuppered by a very public budget bust-up with the Hollywood giant.
The ambitious project, initially titled 'Who's That Girl', had been in development for two years and was set to be a star-studded extravaganza. Madonna herself would have taken the helm as director and co-writer, with American actress Julia Garner – best known for her roles in 'Ozark' and 'Inventing Anna' – lined up to play the lead role of the pop icon.
According to Madonna, the studio just couldn't see eye-to-eye on the budget required to do justice to her life story. "I've had an extraordinary life," she explained in a recent Interview Magazine chat. "I've had a huge life, so I needed a big budget." She even floated the idea of filming some parts in Serbia to keep costs down, but Universal seemed unconvinced that she'd be willing to stick around for long.
After the biopic bit the dust, there was talk of reworking it as a Netflix series. But this too hit snag – mainly over the rights to Madonna's co-written script, which Universal allegedly wanted her to hand over at an extortionate price. And finding someone to take on showrunner duties proved tougher than expected, so that idea was binned too.
So what's next for Madonna? She's set to unleash 'Confessions II', the follow-up to her 2005 chart-topper – and a studio album no less! – on July 3. And get this: she'll also be co-headlining the inaugural FIFA World Cup halftime show, alongside Shakira and BTS. Talk about staying relevant!