Madonna will direct, co-write her own biopic

As any child of the 80s will know, Papa don’t preach. But apparently Papa’s daughter do direct. And write. At least when it comes to her own story. That’s the news coming from Deadline who reports that an upcoming Madonna biopic is set to be the “definitive” story of the life of the Queen of Pop, showing how she went from Michigan-born Madonna Louise Ciccone to the single-named bestselling female artist of all time who suddenly developed a British accent thick enough to make Austin Powers proud when she moved to Old Blighty.

The still-untitled biopic (which the singer has teased may be called Live To Tell after her 1986 single) is currently set up at Universal Pictures with Madonna set to co-produce with former Sony boss Amy Pascal who has worked with the singer previously when she dabbled in acting. But Madonna’s duties won’t stop there as she will follow up her previous feature film directing debut (2011’s W.E.) by helming this film. She will also be co-writing the script with Oscar-winning Juno scribe Diablo Cody.

In a statement, the Material Girl explained what the film will be about and how she was the best person to tell this story.

I want to convey the incredible journey that life has taken me on as an artist, a musician, a dancer – a human being, trying to make her way in this world. The focus of this film will always be music. Music has kept me going and art has kept me alive. There are so many untold and inspiring stories and who better to tell it than me. It’s essential to share the roller coaster ride of my life with my voice and vision.

Honestly, you can’t really argue with that logic as you certainly known your own story best. There are perils of telling that story yourself though. With 2018’s Bohemian Rhapsody, the surviving members of rock group Queen were heavily involved in the film’s development. Too involved for the liking of original star Sacha Baron Cohen who wanted to tell a warts-and-all true story of the life of iconic frontman Freddie Mercury. Instead, we got a film that many people loved (I was very meh on it) and which earned replacement lead Rami Malek a very deserving Oscar, but which was often more glorified fairy tale than accurate life story.

From her breakout days in with hits like Like a Virgin, and even her movie appearances like Body of Evidence, Madonna has always been an artist known for pushing boundaries and flirting with controversy. Hopefully, that is reflected appropriately in this film. Diablo Cody certainly is a great co-writer to bring that out, while Pascal stated that this has been “an absolute labor of love for me”.

I have known Madonna since we made A League of Their Own together, and I can’t imagine anything more thrilling than collaborating with her and Diablo on bringing her true-life story to the big screen with Donna and our partners at Universal.

As for who will actually play the young Madonna on-screen, that has not been decided yet but the real Madonna is reportedly leading the search for a suitable actress. Whoever nabs the coveted role will “play her in the formative stages of a disruptor’s career that set the template for all the diva singing stars who’ve followed, from Beyonce to Lady Gaga.”

Last Updated: September 17, 2020