This is why the Madonna biopic starring Julia Garner isn't happening after all

Madonna is conscionable a worldly girl, surviving successful a worldly world.

The “Vogue” hitmaker graced the screen of Interview mag for the Summer 2026 contented and successful the accompanying chat, the vocalist revealed the crushed the ultra-hyped biopic with “Ozark” prima Julia Garner was scrapped: not capable acold hard cash.

Turns out, Universal Studios was not Madonna’s Mr. Right. According to the popular star, the workplace didn’t stock her imaginativeness for a fund for the film.

“I worked connected my publication for 2 years and spent 2 years astatine Universal Studios with the enactment producers doing budgeting and casting,” she told the magazine. “We had a falling out, maine and Universal, regarding fund due to the fact that I needed — I’ve had an bonzer life. I’ve had a immense life, truthful I needed a large budget. You cognize what I mean?”

The movie had been successful the works for years, and successful 2021 Universal Pictures won a multi-studio auction to helm the biopic. According to Variety, the publication followed Madonna from her upbringing successful the suburbs of Detroit, her creator awakening successful 1980s New York City, and concluded astir the 1998 merchandise of “Ray of Light.”

“I recovered a mode to marque it for little wealth successful Serbia, but I don’t deliberation they were into the thought of — I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe they conscionable didn’t judge successful me.”

Madonna said the workplace couldn’t wrapper its caput astir what she was suggesting and countered that she wouldn’t “stay successful Serbia much than 4 days.”

“I said, ‘Did you work the script?’ My full beingness has been survival. I’m not going determination for a holiday.’”

Madonna said that she was successful “limbo” erstwhile the movie plans fell apart, and she considered telling her beingness communicative done a Netflix bid erstwhile the streamer came knocking. But she wouldn’t beryllium capable to usage the publication she had penned for Universal without buying it from the workplace for “an extortionist’s price,” adjacent though she wrote it.

“That’s conscionable the mode it goes,” she continued. “I started trying to recognize however making a bid would work. It’s a very, precise antithetic process. You person to conscionable a batch of writers and find the close showrunner, and I couldn’t find one. This went connected for different 8 oregon 9 months. I was like, ‘Good happening I person different occupation due to the fact that I request to work, I request to create. I request to bash what I was enactment connected this world to do.’”

Representatives for Universal Pictures, Netflix and Garner did not instantly respond to The Times’ petition for comment.

Through the process of penning the script, Madonna was bitten by the memoir bug, but she channeled that confessional vigor into her forthcoming album, “Confessions connected a Dance Floor: Part II,” which drops July 3. A 13-minute euphony video weaving unneurotic six tracks from the caller medium was released earlier this period and featured A-list cameos by Sabrina Carpenter, Kate Moss, Lourdes Leon, Benedict Cumberbatch and more.

While the biopic and buzz astir Garner’s portrayal of the “Like a Virgin” prima had fans of the 2 blondes chomping astatine the bit, each is not lost: Art captures life. Garner and Madonna were spotted filming scenes successful Venice 2 weeks agone for the 2nd play of “The Studio,” successful which Madonna plays herself struggling to get her biopic made.