So Why Was the Madonna Biopic Scrapped, Anyway?

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Madonna planned to direct a movie about her life, but it never came to fruition. In a new interview, the music icon reveals why the project fell apart.

During an in-depth discussion with Interview, pop icon Madonna revealed why the biopic she planned to direct about her life never moved forward, despite talks with both Universal Pictures and Netflix. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it boils down to money.

“I was supposed to make a movie about my life,” Madonna shared. “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.”

Such a big budget was required, she explained, that the film could never have made it as an indie production. She required the big guns behind a company such as Universal or Netflix to make her dream a reality.

“[Universal Pictures] 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,” said Madonna. “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.’”

Later, Netflix contacted her to create a series based on her life and career—but Madonna says she was hindered in that project by not being able to use the script she developed for Universal. In May 2025, producer Shawn Levy was reportedly working with the star to create a limited series.

“I was in limbo when that fell apart, and then Netflix reached out to make a series,” she said. “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.”

“I started trying to understand how making a series would work,” she added. “It’s a very, very different process. 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.”

The original project she was planning to work on with Universal Pictures was first announced in 2020 before it was officially dead in the water in late 2022. According to The Hollywood Reporter, no draft of the script came in at less than 180 pages, which draws into question how long such a production would have been.