Madonna has revealed that a major falling out with Universal Pictures over budget killed her planned biopic, describing the experience as a 'long process' that eventually led her to Netflix. The pop legend also called social media 'soul-destroying' and urged fans to stay off it to get more work done.
Falling Out Over Budget
Madonna had signed a deal with Universal to tell her life story, with a script co-written by the star herself. However, massive disagreements over money derailed the project. Madonna insisted she needed a bigger budget to reflect her 'extraordinary life.'
She explained: 'I was supposed to make a movie about my life. I worked on my script for two years and spent two years at Universal Studios with the line producers doing budgeting and casting. We had a falling out, me and Universal, regarding budget because I needed — I’ve had an extraordinary life. I’ve had a huge life, so I needed a big budget. You know what I mean?'
Madonna suggested that Universal got cold feet as the price tag started rising. Even when she pitched shooting the movie in Serbia to save money, they 'just didn’t believe in me.' Ozark star Julia Garner was expected to play Madonna in the biopic, with the popstar set to direct the film herself.
Netflix Series Instead
The long-awaited biopic is now back on track as a Netflix series instead of a feature film. Madonna, 66, is collaborating with Netflix and director Shawn Levy on the project but has had to start from scratch after accusing Universal of wanting 'an extortionist’s price' for the script.
She spilled: 'That was a whole other long process, because I couldn't use the script I had with Universal unless I bought it from them for an extortionate price, even though I wrote it.'
'That’s just the way it goes,' Madonna said. 'I started trying to understand how making a series would work. It’s a very, very different process. You have to meet a lot of writers and find the right showrunner, and I couldn’t find one. This went on for another eight or nine months. I was like, “Good thing I have another job because I need to work, I need to create. I need to do what I was put on this earth to do.”'
Considering the eye-watering sums Michael Jackson's biopic made at the box office this year, Netflix may have got themselves a bargain.
Social Media 'Soul-Destroying'
Madonna, who returns with Confessions II next week, also urged her fans to stay off social media, if only to get more work done. The star, who is no stranger to the odd post herself, told Interview magazine: 'We think if we look at Instagram for two hours, we've actually been with somebody. It's mesmerising and also soul-destroying. I have a lot of discipline when it comes to social media, simply because I grew up without it.'
'If I go on Instagram for more than ten minutes, I get depressed, and I don't want to go there. Why am I giving this non-existent entity power over my soul, my brain, my vision of myself, my vision of the world? Time is precious, and that's something I've known all my life. Time's precious. What can I get done? What can I do?'
