Madonna's biopic has been canceled allegedly due to her upcoming world tour, "Madonna: The Celebration Tour." However, rumors have it that the cancellation may have something to do with her "grittier script" and social media antics.
Universal Pictures will no longer work on Madonna's biopic after the filmmakers have decided to cancel the film as the music icon is now busy preparing for her world tour. But the insiders have a different claim, and it allegedly has a deeper reason than her upcoming world tour.
An insider said, via News.com.au, that the music legend had a fallout with the film production due to the script. The tipster revealed the company didn't like her screenplay, as they only wanted it to be "pop and light," but the Queen of Pop wanted something "much grittier," resulting in the project's stalemate.
The source explained that the 64-year-old would rather go to another studio than change her script. So though she wanted to pursue doing the biopic, she might work on it again after the tour.
Sure, Madonna eyed to have the same writers, but she might have to hire another set of cast members if the original actors were no longer available. But aside from the issue about the script, a different Hollywood source told the US Sun that the biopic was canceled due to her controversial social media posts that made the Universal bosses "scratch their heads."
Her alleged insistence on returning to "near-control" also doomed the project. Hence, her so-called weird social media actions did her no favor during the movie's entire process.
The insider continued that Madonna signed a contract to do the biopic, so that should signal her to stop her "circus antics, chasing likes, buckle down," and get her movie into shape.
Though her funny social media posts always interest her diehard fans, it doesn't sit well with Universal. The insider explained the studio bosses had been watching her posts for the past few months. But as she was supposed to be writing, she seemingly left them confuse.
For starters, the Madonna biopic was green-lit in 2020. It was set to be directed and co-written by the "Like a Virgin" hitmaker herself.
The "Ozark" star Julia Garner was supposed to play the role of Madonna after winning the audition against the other young actresses of today, like Florence Pugh and Sydney Sweeney. The "Juno" screenwriter Diablo Cody was also on board to write the script but later quit after finding Madonna "too difficult to work with."
Playwright and author Erin Cressida Wilson was later hired to pull off another draft of the script. But no final version was ever produced, though a source claimed Universal had already spent $10-12 million for its development process. So, if another studio would do the Madonna biopic, it had to reimburse the studio for its expenses to have the right to start it all over again.
