So far, the sensational film project is on hold.
Madonna revealed that the development of a biopic about her was canceled after she had a conflict with Universal Studios over the film's budget. "I needed a big budget — I had an incredible life," she said.
The development of the biopic about Madonna was canceled after the singer had a conflict with Universal Studios over the film's budget. The artist shared this in an interview with Interview magazine.
It became known in 2020 that Universal Pictures was working on a biographical film about Madonna. Announcing the film, the singer stated that the movie would tell the story of her "incredible journey as an artist, musician, dancer, and a person trying to break through in this world." In 2022, it was reported that Julia Garner was the leading contender for the role of Madonna in the film. In 2023, it became known that work on the film had been suspended.
"I worked on the script for two years and spent two years at Universal Studios with line producers, working on the budget and casting. We had a conflict with Universal over the budget because I needed a big budget — I had an incredible life," the singer said. According to her, she suggested that the studio move the production of the film to Serbia to reduce filming costs, but the film company did not agree to this.
"I found a way to shoot it for less money in Serbia, but I think they didn’t like the idea — I don’t know. Maybe they just didn’t believe in me. One of their first reactions was: ‘We don’t believe you will stay in Serbia for more than four days.’ She added: ‘I asked, ‘Have you read the script?’ My whole life has been about survival. I’m going there not for a vacation,’" Madonna recounted.
Madonna added in her conversation with Interview that later Netflix contacted her about creating a series based on the story of her life and career; however, the situation was complicated by the fact that the singer could not use the script from the Universal project unless she bought it "for an outrageous price."
In May 2025, The Hollywood Reporter reported that the producer of the shows "The Perfect Couple" and "All the Light We Cannot See," Shawn Levy, was working on a miniseries for Netflix. Later, in the summer of 2025, Julia Garner stated in an interview with the Smartless podcast that the biographical film about Madonna was still in development and she would play the lead role in the film. Speaking about the long development process, she noted that all good things "take a lot of time."
