The life of pop icon Madonna will soon be told on the big screen, in a movie that the singer/filmmaker has co-written with Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody. Madonna will also be directing the film, which will explore the icon's early days in Michigan, to her time spent in New York before becoming one of the most popular singing acts of all time. While announcing the biopic and her role within the project, Madonna had this to say.
"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."
The main focus of the Madonna Biopic will be the singer's musical contributions to pop culture, and it will be the third time she sits in the director's chair for a project, after 2008's Filth and Wisdom and 2011's W.E., neither of which performed favorably with critics or general audiences.
The success of recent biopics of music legends, from Bohemian Rhapsody to Rocketman have made studios eager to cash in on the trend. Universal Pictures will be producing Madonna's biopic, after initially having a falling out with the singer over an unofficial script they were working on regarding her life and career.
Although casting details are scarce at this point, Madonna has been keeping her fans updated on the progress on her biopic via Instagram. She explained that the film will deal with her "struggle as an artist trying to survive in a man's world," and that the journey depicted will have many shades of emotions, including "happy, sad, mad, crazy, good, bad and ugly".
The film will also touch upon various aspects of her life that have garnered the most attention from the media, including her relationship with artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, the public blowback from her controversial Like A Prayer video, and her experience filming Evita. Amy Pascal, who is attached to the project as producer, expressed her enthusiasm over having a role in bringing the biopic to fruition.
"This movie is an absolute labor of love for me. I have known Madonna since we made A League of Their Own together, and I can't imagine anything more thrilling than collaborating with her and [Diablo Cody] on bringing her true-life story to the big screen with Donna and our partners at Universal."
The trouble with biopics that are made in collaboration with the people around whom the story centers is that the final project all too often ends up looking like a whitewashed narrative rather than an honest examination of the person's life, warts and all. The same criticism was made of the Rami Malek-starrer Bohemian Rhapsody, for seeming to sweep under the rug the more controversial aspects of Freddie Mercury's career.
Only time will tell how honest the Madonna biopic is going to be, but for now, fans are thrilled the film is finally getting off the ground after three years of the project seeming to be stuck in limbo. This news comes from Madonna.com.