Madonna Biopic Abruptly Canceled, Thanks To The Singer
Universal has scrapped Madonna's biopic, with the Material Girl instead heading on a world tour.
If you thought you would “Live to Tell” about seeing the Madonna-directed biopic about her life, your hopes may need to take a “Holiday.” Variety reports Universal Studios has dropped the project, and the report comes not long after the Material Girl announced a new worldwide concert tour. Sources close to Variety said the tour is the singer’s “sole focus,” implying that the studio’s abandonment of the film is possibly due to the singer’s decision to go on tour rather than continue developing the feature.
The unnamed sources close to Madonna said she’s still “committed to making a film about her life one day,” but apparently now is not the time. Neither the singer nor the studio has commented on the situation.
Madonna first announced she was working on a biopic about her life, which she would direct, in 2020. Since then, Ozark star Julia Garner was cast in the lead role and at least two acclaimed screenwriters — Oscar winner Diablo Cody (Juno) and Erin Cressida Wilson (Secretary) — have worked on the script.
In September 2020, Madonna talked to Entertainment Weekly about some of the parts of her life she wanted the biopic to focus on including her encounters with famous artists like Andy Warhol, the controversy over the 1989 music video “Like A Prayer,” and the making of the 1996 musical historical drama Evita. She also promised a scene that would show her meeting with Harlem ballroom legends Gutierez Xtravaganza and Luis Xtravaganza who had a lot to do with the 1990 hit “Vogue.” The singer insisted that while there would be “a lot of music” in the film, it wouldn’t be a musical.
With nothing but speculation to go on over the film being dropped, it’s difficult to not wonder about reports from November that Madonna’s odd behavior, which was worrying friends and fans alike, including posting odd videos to social media. One video featured the 1980s icon licking from a dog bowl, while another infamously less-than-sexy video showed her twerking strangely.
Regardless of whether or not Madonna’s biopic ever gets made, fans were clearly overjoyed that she’s going on tour. She announced the tour in a video produced by Live Nation which featured stars like Judd Apatow, Eric Andre, Amy Schumer, Jack Black, and Lil Wayne playing Truth or Dare. Tickets to shows in major cities like New York, Paris, and London sold out so quickly it would make Taylor Swift gasp.
Ironically while Madonna’s biopic was just abandoned, the star did show up in a biopic last year played by Evan Rachel Wood (Westworld). In Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, which — in true Weird Al fashion — is really a parody of celebrity biopics, Weird Al (Daniel Radcliffe) is depicted as having a steamy affair with Madonna.
