Entertainment

Madonna to ‘begin filming biopic starring Julia Garner in the next 12 months’ after project was shelved during her Celebration Tour

Madonna is reportedly set to ‘begin filming for her biopic starring Julia Garner in the next 12 months’ after the project was scraped last year.

The ‘Queen Of Pop’, 65, spent years percolating the movie, which was first announced in 2020, but put plans on hold after announcing her massive Celebration Tour.

Award winning actress Julia, 30, was first attached to the project in 2022 after undergoing a gruelling 11 hour audition process.

Madonna wrapped up her mammoth run of shows in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, last month and is now said to be focusing on ‘fulfilling her dream’ of getting the biopic made.

A source told The Sun: ‘Julia is still her lead actress and they have remained in touch for the past year, talking through ideas. They are committed to creating some magic.’

Madonna, 65, is reportedly set to ‘begin filming for her biopic starring Julia Garner in the next 12 months’ after the project was scraped last year

The ‘Queen Of Pop’, spent years percolating the movie, which was first announced in 2020 with award winning actress Julia, 30, becoming attached to the project in 2022 (pictured in January)

They added: ‘A range of secret meets are being organised with Universal Pictures to get the project nailed down.

‘There is a lot to work on with locking down the rest of the cast, arranging shoots and completing the script but the hope is that they can start filming in the next 12 months.’

The source added that Madonna had felt films such as Freddie Mercury’s Bohemian Rhapsody and Elton John’s Rocketman ‘paved the way’ for her film, but she wanted to ensure hers was ‘more unique and dramatic.’

MailOnline has contacted Madonna’s representative for comment.

In 2020, when the biopic was first announced, the singer said 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,’ she continued.

‘It’s essential to share the roller coaster ride of my life with my voice and vision,’ she added.

Universal Pictures announced the decision to shelved the film in January 2023 after the Queen Of Pop revealed she would be embarking on a 40th anniversary world tour.

At the time, The US Sun reported that it was put on pause due in part to her insistence on having ‘near-total’ control of the process on top of her bizarre ‘circus antics’ on social media.

Madonna wrapped up her mammoth run of shows in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (pictured), last month and is now said to be focusing on ‘fulfilling her dream’ of getting the biopic made

The much-anticipated Madonna biopic starring Julia Garner (right) was previously scrapped in the wake of her announcement of a new 40th anniversary world tour

At the time, The US Sun reported that it was put on pause due in part to her insistence on having ‘near-total’ control of the process on top of her bizarre ‘circus antics’ on social media (pictured on stage in Brazil last month)

The Rebel Heart star’s controversial and bizarre posts on social media left studio executives ‘scratching their heads’, an insider told the publication.

‘Madonna did herself no favours by acting weird on social media during this entire process,’ the source continued.

‘She signed a contract to make this film and that should have been the signal to her to stop the circus antics, stop chasing likes, and just buckle down and get this movie into shape.’

While her edgy, and sometimes funny, posts often play well with her die-hard fans, they were reportedly off-putting to the bosses at Universal.

‘The studio bosses were watching what Madonna posted over these months where she was supposed to be writing and were left scratching their heads,’ the source explained.

The Express Yourself superstar’s social media controversies have included a racy video of herself in lingerie alongside a wholesome pic of her four youngest on Christmas Day,’ which some commenters found to be ‘uncomfortable’.

Among her other weird antics: a video showing her wearing a black lace balaclava while holding a riding crop; a clip showing her licking water out of a dog bowl after posing suggestively with bottles of sriracha and mustard; and lip-syncing to a rap about punching people in their ‘motherf***ing face’ with the caption: ‘Alright, wait, b**ch.’

The mother of six also left many people confused with a post where she appeared to come out as gay before making a ‘confession’ that she has never been circumcised.

Madonna’s social media controversies include posting a racy video of herself in lingerie alongside a wholesome pic of her four youngest on Christmas Day

The Express Yourself star also raised eyebrows with a video showing her wearing a black lace balaclava while holding a riding crop

Madonna’s social media antics also included her lip-syncing to a rap about punching people in their ‘motherf***ing face’ with the caption: ‘Alright, wait, b**ch’

It’s reported that executives at Universal didn’t like seeing the seemingly endless posts when she was supposed to be focused on writing and casting the biopic.

It’s been said that Garner, a Golden Globe and multi-Emmy Award winning actress, endured a grueling audition process to land the role over competition that reportedly included Euphoria actress Sydney Sweeney and Don’t Worry Darling star Florence Pugh among others.

The casting process has been described as a boot camp where actresses were drilled with grueling 11-hour choreography sessions and readings directed by Madonna, as well as further auditions where they had to sing in front of her.

Over the course of the past three years, Madonna (born Madonna Louise Ciccone) has reportedly blown through multiple screenwriters, including Academy Award-winner Diablo Cody.

It appears executives at Universal didn’t like seeing all her social media performing when she should be focused on writing and casting the biopic

The Rebel heart star dropped a video ahead of the Grammy Awards showing her with a weird ‘frozen face’ while dressed in a see-through top

Madonna declared ‘I’ve never worn so many clothes in my life’, after Madonna was banned from Instagram Live for braking nude rules; this a a censored version of one of the photos

But Cody would ultimately quit in April 2021 after finding Madonna too difficult to work with, The Sun reported at the time.

‘I have a very long script that is really hard for me to make shorter,’ Madonna admitted last summer. ‘I’ve been whittling away at it, but it’s like hacking off my limbs.’

Studio execs had hoped that Cody would be a stable and grounded hand at the wheel for the project, but in the end it was revealed that she was only going to commit to helping with the first draft of the script, due to her other projects and personal responsibilities as a mother.

‘It was an uphill battle after she left, even though Madonna insisted on doing more writing herself,’ that person with knowledge of the situation insisted, before revealing the singer-songwriter’s insistence on directing the biopic may have been one of the first breaking points.

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