Madonna Reveals What Led to Her Biopic Being Scrapped

Madonna says the long-hyped movie about her life didn't die of creative differences, but from sticker shock. In a chat with Interview magazine, the pop icon blames a clash with Universal Studios over how much it would cost to tell her story, saying the studio balked at the scale she felt her "huge life" required. "I've had an extraordinary life ... so I needed a big budget," she notes. The singer says she spent years on the film—writing, casting, and budgeting—with writers including Diablo Cody, and even eyed Serbia as a cheaper shooting location to help ease some of the studio's money worries. Universal allegedly doubted she'd stick around in Serbia longer than a few days.

"I said, 'Did you read the script?'" Madonna says. "My whole life has been survival. I'm not going there for a holiday." Actor Julia Garner had reportedly trained for the lead role, but the biopic stalled, and a later attempt to rework it as a Netflix series fizzled. Madonna adds she couldn't reuse her script unless she bought it back from Universal at what she calls an "extortionist's price." "Even though I wrote it. Don't ask," she adds. Much more here from the Material Girl, including how she got DJ Mark Kamins to listen to her demo tape for "Everybody" when she was first starting out—a time when she insists she wasn't popular and "girls threw drinks at me."