Madonna: biopic scrapped after falling out with Universal over budget

Madonna says the long-gestating movie about her life that she was personally overseeing was cancelled after she fell out with Hollywood studio Universal over the size of the film’s budget. “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.” She says she proposed shifting production to Serbia to keep costs down, but the studio did not accept 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. One of their first reactions was: ‘We don’t believe you’d stay in Serbia more than four days.’” The project was first announced in 2020, with Madonna planning to direct a script by Young Adult writer Diablo Cody. Julia Garner was cast in the lead role after a gruelling casting process, which had become known as ‘Madonna bootcamp’, but reports emerged in 2023 that the movie, which had the working title Who’s That Girl, had been scrapped.

Serbia

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