Madonna says her biopic was scrapped due to cost: “I’ve had a huge life, so I needed a big budget”

Madonna has opened up about her ill-fated biopic, saying that it was scrapped after she had a “falling out” with Universal Studios over the budget.

The movie went into development in 2020 and was slated to be titled Who’s That Girl. Madonna was set to direct and write the script herself, and it was later announced that Weapons star Julia Garner would be taking on the lead role.

After a few years, the production eventually collapsed and it later emerged that it was going to be made into a Netflix series – although few announcements have been made since then.

Now, Madonna has opened up about why the plans for a movie fell through, saying that it was because she “fell out” with the studio after a dispute over the budget.

“I was supposed to make a movie about my life,” she told Interview Magazine. “I worked on my script for two years and spent two years at Universal Studios with the line producers doing budgeting and casting.”

She continued: “We had a falling out, me and Universal, regarding budget because I needed [more money put into it]. I’ve had an extraordinary life. I’ve had a huge life, so I needed a big budget. You know what I mean? It’s not going to be a [smaller, independent film].”

Regarding the financial issues, the ‘Like A Virgin’ icon said that she came up with plans to shoot the film in Serbia so that it would cost “less money”, but was allegedly shot down as the studio were not “into the idea”.

“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,” Madonna added, before sharing that she faced more issues when trying to make the project into a Netflix series instead.

“I was in limbo when that fell apart, and then Netflix reached out to make a series,” she said. “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.”

Madonna went on to say that she spent a year trying to make the biopic come together as a Netflix series, but ultimately shelved it as she noticed it was a “very, very different” process to the film.

🚨 | Madonna reveals why her biopic was scrapped:

‘I worked on my script for two years and spent two years at Universal Studios… I needed—I’ve had an extraordinary life. I’ve had a huge life, so I needed a big budget’ pic.twitter.com/qI0pqn0ovt

— pop_insider 🤍🖤 (@PInsider_) June 22, 2026

“That’s just the way it goes… You have to meet a lot of writers and find the right showrunner, and I couldn’t find one,” she explained. “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.’”

While it doesn’t look like the Madonna biopic will be hitting screens anytime soon, the pop legend is gearing up to release her 15th studio record on July 3 – the spiritual follow-up to 2005’s ‘Confessions On A Dance Floor’.

‘Confessions II’ is Madonna’s first record since 2019’s ‘Madame X’, and it sees her reunite with ‘Confessions’ producer Stuart Price.

To celebrate the upcoming album, Madonna has surprised fans in New York City by playing an impromptu set at Times Square, and also shared star-studded short film accompaniment to the record starring Sabrina Carpenter, Benedict Cumberbatch, Kate Moss, Julia Garner, Shygirl, Richard E. Grant, Honey Dijon and more.

The ‘Vogue’ singer has also been confirmed as one of the co-headliners for the first ever FIFA World Cup halftime show alongside Shakira and BTS, and has implored fans to “put your fucking phones down and connect” when at gigs.

Kylie Minogue has responded to rumours of a guest appearance on the record too, and Linda Perry has expressed her desire to produce for Madge – describing her latest music as “weak” and “trying to compete with Charli XCX“.

Madonna will be holding an intimate London listening party for ‘Confessions II’ at the start of July, and will also be starring in an episode of The Studio, with the episode being centred around her long-delayed biopic.