Madonna reveals biopic scrapped after ‘falling out’ over budget

23 June 2026, 15:49

Rumours of a Madonna biopic have swirled for the past few years, but the Queen of Pop’s latest update is her most negative yet.

Madonna has confirmed “a falling out” with Universal studios led to the cancellation of her plans to make a film of her life.

Speaking with Interview magazine ahead of the release of her next album, Confessions II, the ‘Papa Don’t Preach’ artist revealed disagreements about the film’s budget put the project to rest.

• Madonna biopic starring Julia Garner is scrapped as Queen of Pop focuses on world tour
• Madonna announces Confessions II album two decades after original Confessions on a Dance Floor
• Madonna sparkles in rare 40-year-old behind the scenes video - watch here

“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 told Interview’s editor-in-chief Mel Ottenberg.

“They couldn’t get their heads around it,” she continued. “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.’”

Madonna responded by telling the studio: “‘Did you read the script?’” she explained.

“My whole life has been survival. I [wasn’t] going there for a holiday.” But the project did not come to be.

Madonna's biopic plans were first announced in 2020, and the film had Julia Garner set to star as the Queen of Pop following a gruelling ‘Madonna bootcamp’ casting project.

The project’s failure was first reported in 2023.

More recently, it was announced Madonna was planning to work with Netflix and Stranger Things' Shawn Levy to develop a miniseries about her life.

But the journey to this project was also clearly a difficult one.

“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,” she complained.

Madonna - "Confessions II - The Film"

“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.’”

And so despite the failure of her biopic to get off the ground, Madonna did succeed in pouring her excess creative energy into making Confessions on a Dancefloor: Part II, which drops July 3.

Meanwhile, her Netflix biopic series remains in development.