“I’ve had an extraordinary life, I must make an extraordinary film,” Madonna told Variety in July, as she described her decision to helm her own biopic as a “preemptive strike” against the men who wanted to tell her story.
That was last summer, when there were reports of a months-long “Madonna bootcamp” led by casting director Carmen Cuba, which included eleven-hour choreography sessions, where everyone from Florence Pugh, Alexa Demie, Bebe Rexha, Odessa Young and Sky Ferreira auditioned to play the “Material Girl.”
Madonna said she wanted the role to go to someone who could “convey the incredible journey that life has taken me on as an artist, a musician, a dancer…the focus of this film will always be music.”
Twelve actresses were in the running, and Variety had the scoop: on June 7, Julia Garner of Inventing Anna and Ozark was offered the role of Madonna in the Universal Pictures-backed biopic, which chairman Donna Langley won in a bidding war. Garner never really acknowledged the offer (or whether it was accepted it) in interviews or on social media — which felt odd.
is the madonna biopic still on.. pic.twitter.com/FMsUJCQdZh
— monroe (@monroegasms) January 3, 2023
On June 30th, TMZ reported that Garner had attended a drag show in West Hollywood where she was pulled onstage by Morgan McMichaels of RuPaul’s Drag Race, who congratulated her. The crowd exploded in applause. Julia Garner was the luckiest star in Hollywood, we thought.
Power-player Amy Pascal was attached as producer. Oscar-winning scribe Diablo Cody had turned in the final script, but then “moved on” to another project. The Sun reported that Cody said Madonna was “difficult to work with” — pushed to the borderline. EW later reported that Cody didn’t quit, that she’d simply submitted the script and moved on to another project.
In 2021, screenwriter and playwright Erin Cressida Wilson (Secretary) joined Madonna as co-writer.
“I have a very long script,” Madonna told Variety, “that is really hard for me to make shorter. I’ve been whittling away at it, but it’s like hacking off my limbs.” She had previously streamed writing sessions with Diablo Cody on Instagram, as the two sat in front dozens of notebooks covering a humongous coffee table. That was in 2020 during Covid lockdowns.
In November, rumors began to swirl that Madonna had begun to “micromanage” the process by “constantly calling and texting” star Julia Garner, according to RadarOnline. Around the same time, Evan Rachel Wood appeared in the Weird Al biopic as a slightly ridiculous version of Madonna, which was described by The Daily Beast as “offensively lazy and vapid,” which seems to have missed the joke. But Madonna didn’t comment. It’s also the thing Madonna wants to avoid the most with her biopic: self-parody.
“Her opinion is that if it’s to be a success, then Julia [Garner] needs to slip into her mindset and live and breathe everything she does. It’s the ultimate Method acting challenge,” a source told RadarOnline.
What we don’t know is the production timeline and cast — Julia Fox was momentarily rumored to play actress and friend Debi Mazar — and Garner hasn’t formally announced whether she’s accepted the role or not. Still in preproduction, it could take a year (or longer) before we get a glimpse of Julia Garner as Madonna.
But why hasn’t she commented? Garner posted on Instagram to announce her first-look deal with Tomorrow Studios, for example. She posts regularly: everything from magazine shoots to red carpet photos. She follows Madonna on Instagram (and Madonna follows her back), but in June and July, when everyone was talking about the casting decision, the biggest win of her career, Garner’s Instagram was saturated with glam magazine covers and PR for her various projects (Ozark and Inventing Anna) — nothing about Madonna.
It seemed unusual, just a little, but there was no reason to believe Garner had passed on the project.
The rumor that Madonna is “micromanaging” Garner is the latest update, which assumes she’s accepted the role, but “Garner’s team is said to be reviewing the offer and is considering accepting,” reported IndieWire. Garner’s upcoming projects on IMDB include the “untitled Madonna biopic.”
Then in August, notorious gossip blog Deuxmoi said the “nightmare production” was either going to get canned or change studios.
According to a new post from @deuxmoiworld, the biopic May no longer be happening anymore pic.twitter.com/j1chExjp7W
— The Madonna Bible : a FAN account! (@madonnabible_) August 26, 2022
I reached out to Garner’s rep, by the way, who has yet to comment on whether or not she accepted the role. And over the past few months, Madonna’s focus has seemingly shifted elsewhere, as she rereleases her back catalog aka her “Immaculate discography” as deluxe versions, plans a “Greatest Hits” stadium tour, according to The Sun, and possibly gets to work on her fifteenth studio album.
“I’m sick of living in the past! I want to go on tour again, I’m a creature of the stage. That is my happy place,” she told Variety.
But she also has a tale to tell, if you will. In December, Madonna posted on IG about Jean-Michel Basquiat. Julia Garner then replied to the post, which is, as of this writing, the “latest” on the Madonna biopic. It could shift quickly into a TV series or memoir or a causality of a career that’s constantly in flux — changing as quickly as Madonna changes her look.
Julia Garner replied under Madonna's IG post about Jean-Michel Basquiat few days ago 👀
Madonna also revealed that she has many stories that she'll share with the world one day. Do you think her biopic will still happen and she just stopped working on it for now? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/VL4EV2v43I
— Madonna Daily (@madonnaxdaily) December 30, 2022
