Madonna rips Hollywood producers for trying to 'downsize' biopic

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Madonna is thinking of turning a planned biopic about her life from a feature film into a TV series.

“After struggling for days in LA, listening to producers and agents Tell me why I couldn’t make my film… I realized that everything in my life is going to be challenged,” the 66-yaer-old shared in an

In the comments, the responses to the Like a Prayer hitmaker’s query drew a variety of replies, but many said that Madonna’s life story should get the TV treatment.

“That way you can cover more development of your quite illustrious life and career,” one person wrote.

“You can only have so much runtime in a feature film. Make it into a series. Do not sell yourself short,” another replied.

Goodfellas actress Debi Mazar suggested that either would be “amazing,” but encouraged the Queen of Pop to write her autobiography first. “Then no one can get it wrong,” she said.

One fan floated the idea of the story unfolding like Netflix’s The Crown, with each season focusing on a decade of Madonna’s musical career as it evolved in the 1980s, 1990s, early aughts, 2010s and 2020s.

A biopic on Madonna’s life was first announced back in 2017 with Universal Pictures acquiring Elyse Hollander’s Blond Ambition script, which the Associated Press said would chart the pop icon’s efforts to make her first album and her early struggles in the music business in the ’80s.

The script, which topped the 2016 Black List, the industry ranking that tracks the most-buzzed about unmade screenplays, was also reportedly set to explore Madonna’s love life and her first experiences with fame.

But Madonna seemingly criticized the planned picture, saying in an Instagram post at the time that she should be the one to tell her life story.

“Nobody knows what I know and what I have seen. Only I can tell my story. Anyone else who tries is a charlatan and a fool. Looking for instant gratification without doing the work. This is a disease in our society,” she said.

Then, in 2020, Universal said that the Material Girl singer would direct and co-write a film based on her life along with Juno scribe Diablo Cody.

“The focus of this film will always be music,” Madonna said in a statement. “Music has kept me going and art has kept me alive … 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.”

Last year, Variety reported that the project, which would have featured Ozark Emmy winner Julia Garner in the leading role, was no longer in development with Universal following her plans for a career-spanning world tour.

But after her run of shows ended, the biopic seemed to be back on. This past July, Madonna took to Instagram to share a slideshow of photos, one of which showed a screenplay with the title, Who’s That Girl.

mdaniell@postmedia.com