Madonna spent two years writing a script about her own life and another two years at Universal Studios working through budgets and casting. Then the whole thing collapsed over money.
According to a report by Deadline, the singer opened up about the failed project in an interview with Interview magazine. The central conflict was simple: the movie she wanted to make cost more than Universal was willing to spend.
"I was supposed to make a movie about my life. I worked on my script for two years and spent two years at Universal Studios with the line producers doing budgeting and casting," Madonna said. "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. You know what I mean?"
Madonna was attached to the project as both co-writer and director. Over the course of development, screenwriters Diablo Cody and Erin Cressida Wilson were also attached at various points. Julia Garner had been confirmed to play Madonna on screen.
When the budget became a sticking point, Madonna said she found a way to bring costs down by filming in Serbia. Universal was not receptive. She recalled their reaction directly.
"Maybe they just didn't believe in me. 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," she said.
After Universal walked away, Netflix reached out about turning the story into a limited series. That process created a new problem. The script Madonna had already written was owned by Universal, and buying it back came at a steep price.
"I was in limbo when that fell apart, and then Netflix reached out to make a series. 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. Don't ask," she said.
Starting over on the series format proved difficult. Madonna described spending another eight or nine months searching for the right creative team.
"That's just the way it goes. I started trying to understand how making a series would work. 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. I was like, 'Good thing I have another job because I need to work, I need to create. I need to do what I was put on this earth to do,'" she said.
Deadline had previously reported in 2025 that Madonna was teaming with director Shawn Levy for a limited bioseries at Netflix. Later that same year, Julia Garner said that playing Madonna was still "a work in progress."
