Madonna says that the long-gestating movie about her life that she was personally overseeing was cancelled after she fell out with Hollywood studio Universal over the size of the film\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n
Speaking to Interview magazine<\/a>, Madonna said: \u201cWe had a falling out, me and Universal, regarding budget because I needed \u2013 I\u2019ve had an extraordinary life. I\u2019ve had a huge life, so I needed a big budget.\u201d<\/p>\n The musician said that she proposed shifting production to Serbia to keep costs down, but the studio did not accept it. \u201cI found a way to make it for less money in Serbia, but I don\u2019t think they were into the idea of \u2013 I don\u2019t know. Maybe they just didn\u2019t believe in me. One of their first reactions was: \u2018We don\u2019t believe you\u2019d stay in Serbia more than four days.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n She added: \u201cI said, \u2018Did you read the script?\u2019 My whole life has been survival. I\u2019m not going there for a holiday.\u201d<\/p>\n The project was first announced in 2020<\/a>, with Madonna planning to direct a script by Young Adult<\/a> writer Diablo Cody. \u201cIt\u2019s essential to share the rollercoaster ride of my life with my voice and vision,\u201d Madonna said at the time. It followed her criticism of a mooted film called Blond Ambition, about her early career, which Universal had acquired in 2017. \u201cWhy would Universal Studios want to make a movie about me based on a script that is all lies???\u201d she had said in an Instagram post.<\/p>\n Julia Garner, who was cast as Madonna, in 2024. Photograph: Allison Dinner\/EPA<\/p>\n Julia Garner was cast in the lead role after a gruelling casting process, which had become known as \u201cMadonna bootcamp\u201d<\/a>, but reports emerged in 2023 that the movie, which had the working title<\/a> Who\u2019s That Girl, had been scrapped<\/a>.<\/p>\n Madonna has previously directed two feature films, both of which received one-star reviews from the Guardian\u2019s Peter Bradshaw: Filth and Wisdom<\/a>, about a Ukrainian musician trying to make it in London, and WE<\/a>, about Wallis Simpson and the former Edward VIII. She also has a string of acting credits, including Desperately Seeking Susan, Dick Tracy, Evita and The Next Best Thing.<\/p>\n