The Madonna movie has been scrapped —for the time being, at least.
The biopic, which was to be co-written, produced and directed by the 64-year-old pop star, is no longer moving forward in development at Universal Pictures. According to Variety, Madonna still intends to make a movie about her life in the future, but wants to focus on her upcoming world tour right now. Madonna's The Celebration Tour was just announced last week, and pre-sale tickets went on the market yesterday (January 23) at 10 a.m. The 35-city run begins in July with a show at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
News broke that the project was in "active development" in June 2022, and Julia Garner reportedly was the "choice to play Madonna" in the biopic. In addition, Uncut Gems actress Julia Fox was reportedly in talks to play the singer's longtime friend Debi Mazar.
The biopic was first confirmed back in 2020. "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," Madonna said at the time. "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."