Madonna Says Her Biopic Was Killed Over Budget Dispute With Universal

Madonna revealed that “a falling out” with Universal Pictures over the budget for her highly publicized biopic led to the film being shelved. 

Speaking with Interview, Madonna said she spent several years developing the project, writing the script, and working with producers at Universal on everything from budgeting to casting. But, she said, “We had a falling out, me and Universal, regarding budget.”

As the pop icon pointedly put it: “I’ve had an extraordinary life. I’ve had a huge life, so I needed a big budget. You know what I mean?” She even claimed the studio “couldn’t get their heads around it.”

Madonna did say she looked for ways to cut costs, including one idea to move the production to Serbia. But she said Universal Pictures wasn’t into the idea. “Maybe they just didn’t believe me,” she said. “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.” (A rep for Universal Pictures said not immediately return a request for comment.)

The Madonna biopic was revealed in 2020, with the singer attached to co-write and direct the film. At various points, Madonna was working on the script with Oscar-winner Diablo Cody and screenwriter Erin Cressida. The film even found a star in Ozark’s Julia Garner, who reportedly went through a pop star “boot camp” during the audition process. 

Despite all that work, and the fact that music biopics remain heavily bankable, the Madonna film never came to fruition (and no explanation for it being shelved was ever given). In 2025, it appeared that the project might be revived as a Netflix series, but Madonna suggested that process hadn’t panned out either. 

In the new interview, she noted that she couldn’t use the script she wrote for the biopic unless she “bought it from [Universal] for an extortionist’s price.” Then there was the entirely different creative process a limited series required versus a movie. 

“You have to meet a lot of writers and find the right showrunner, and I couldn’t find one,” Madonna said. “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.’” 

Still, the Madonna biopic has lived on in a few different ways. Garner recently appeared in the short film Madonna created to accompany her upcoming Confessions 2 album. (The film is out now, but the album won’t arrive until July 3.) And both Madonna and Garner are set to appear in Season Two of The Studio, with a story arc based on what actually happened with the film’s thwarted development.