Madonna Speaks Out About Dispute with Universal Over Biopic — People
World-renowned pop diva Madonna has officially announced the launch of a biographical miniseries on Netflix in collaboration with acclaimed director Shawn Levy.
The project was given a new lease on life after the long-running development of a feature film fell through entirely due to financial disagreements and the singer’s conflict with Universal Studios.
In an interview with the popular magazine *Interview*, the 67-year-old singer candidly shared details of the protracted crisis that led to the halt of filming in early 2023.
The singer personally wrote the screenplay over the course of two years and planned to direct the film herself. However, American producers categorically refused to allocate the necessary funds to bring the project to life.
“I was going to make a movie about my life. I worked on the screenplay for two years and spent two years at Universal Studios with line producers, working on the budget and casting,” the artist noted.
She emphasized that the film’s scale had to match her status: “I’ve had an extraordinary life. I’ve had a full life, so I needed a big budget.”
According to the star, studio executives showed no flexibility and expressed outright skepticism about her plans to optimize costs by filming abroad. “I don’t know. Maybe they just didn’t believe in me.
One of their first reactions was: ‘We don’t believe you’ll stay in Serbia for more than four days.’ And I replied: ‘Have you read the script?’ My whole life has been about survival. I’m not going there on vacation,” the singer recalls emotionally.
After the final breakup with the film studio, Madonna found herself in a difficult legal and creative impasse. The format of the series required radically different approaches and a lengthy search for a team.
On top of that, the rights to the previous script drafts remained with the Hollywood majors.
People reports on this.
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