Madonna Is Directing Her Own Biopic, So Strike A Pose

Madonna in Evita

Remember when Thanos said, “Fine, I’ll do it myself” at the end of 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, in reference to collecting the Infinity Stones? Well, famed singer and actress Madonna is adopting that same attitude, as it’s been announced that she’ll be directing a biopic about her own life. Strike a pose, everyone.

Along with her directing and producing duties, Madonna is also cowriting this biopic’s script with Juno’s Diablo Cody, with both women having been teasing the project on their social media accounts. A search is already being planned out to find an actress to play Madonna in her formative years, and it goes without saying that the movie will chronicle how she became a worldwide star.

There’s no word yet on what the Madonna biopic will be titled or when production will begin, but here’s what Madonna had to say about the project in a statement:

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.

While having the subject of a biopic direct said movie is a rather unprecedented move, at least Madonna already has some directing experience under her belt, having helmed 2008’s Filth and Wisdom and 2011’s W.E. The surviving members of Queen were also heavily involved with the making of the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, but that’s still a far cry from them directing the picture themselves.

Madonna will produce this biopic alongside Amy Pascal, with the two women having previously crossed paths on 1992’s A League of Their Own. Sara Zambreno and Guy Oseary will executive produce, and Senior executive Vice President of Production Erik Baiers and Director of Development Lexi Barta will oversee the project for Universal. The studio’s Filmed Entertainment Group chairman, Donna Langley, also described Madonna as being “the ultimate icon, humanitarian, artist and rebel” who has “shaped our culture in a way very few others have.”

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about a Madonna biopic being in development. Back in 2017, it was announced that Universal Pictures was working on such a project, titled Blonde Ambition, which was written by Elyse Hollander. However, this biopic sounded like it would only cover Madonna’s life in the 1980s. Shortly after that announcement, Madonna voiced her displeasure with that biopic, saying that she should be the one to tell her own story. Taking this latest news into account, one can surmise that Blonde Ambition has been shelved.

Along with the aforementioned A League of Their Own, Madonna’s other acting credits include Desperately Seeking Susan, Dick Tracy and Evita, but it doesn’t sound like we should expect her to appear in front of the camera on this biopic. Diablo Cody’s other writing credits include Jennifer’s Body, Ricki and the Flash, Tully, the Showtime series United States of Tara, and The CW’s upcoming Powerpuff Girls live-action series.

We here at CinemaBlend will keep you updated on how the Madonna biopic is coming along, but for now, you can keep track of the movies set to arrive soon with our 2020 release schedule and 2021 release schedule.

Adam Holmes
Senior Content Producer

Connoisseur of Marvel, DC, Star Wars, John Wick, MonsterVerse and Doctor Who lore, Adam is a Senior Content Producer at CinemaBlend. He started working for the site back in late 2014 writing exclusively comic book movie and TV-related articles, and along with branching out into other genres, he also made the jump to editing. Along with his writing and editing duties, as well as interviewing creative talent from time to time, he also oversees the assignment of movie-related features. He graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in Journalism, and he’s been sourced numerous times on Wikipedia. He's aware he looks like Harry Potter and Clark Kent.