There have been countless times when a film has been scrapped in development, usually memorialized by an intern shredding the script. But in Madonna’s case, she’ll have a Viking funeral on an Apple TV budget.
That was revealed two weeks ago in paparazzi photos from Italy, where the pop icon was captured filming the second season of Seth Rogen’s The Studio in Venice. Madonna’s appearance in the acclaimed series depicts her recent struggle in Hollywood to get a biopic about her life made.
Madonna hasn’t appeared on TV since a cameo on Will & Grace in 2003, and hasn’t appeared in a movie since the disastrous Swept Away remake in 2002. So for Rogen, recruiting her into “The Studio,” a forensic look at the inner life of a traditional film company fighting for relevance and survival, is no small feat. But it helped that so many other moguls and big stars were willing to project their images on the Emmy-winning series. The first season featured heavyweights including Martin Scorsese, Charlize Theron, Zoe Kravitz, and Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, all of whom played themselves. What’s even more interesting, two sources say, is how Rogen’s show will use the real-life situation surrounding the singer’s rejected biopic to illustrate the challenges of modern filmmaking. Madonna will appear in two episodes, the source added.
First, some history. In 2021, Universal Pictures won a multi-studio auction to make a film about Madonna’s life. Amy Pascal is on board to produce, and Madonna co-wrote and directed. Top actresses, including Florence Pugh, endured a grueling audition process that included a singing and dancing “boot camp.” Julia Garner, who won Emmys for her roles in “Inventing Anna” and “Ozark,” won the role in 2022. Sources say the film follows Madonna from her humble beginnings in Michigan, to her artistic growth in the gritty New York City of the ’80s, to the release of 1998’s Ray of Light, the album that marked her dramatic reinvention and new heights of stardom.
After several script rewrites, the film was shelved for good in 2023 after Madonna’s longtime manager Guy O’Seary persuaded her to abandon her directorial ambitions and go on a career-spanning blockbuster world tour. Ultimately, Universal lost the rights to her life and music catalog. Netflix is currently developing an autobiographical series about her, directed by Shawn Levy, through an exclusive television deal with the streamer. Garner doesn’t belong to that version.
For those who wanted to see Garner in fishnet stockings and rubber bracelets as Material Girl, there’s still a chance. In a sense. The “Studio” script would rewrite history by introducing Rogen’s fictional company Continental Studios as the producer and financier of Madonna and Garner’s film, which never existed. Continental’s core team, including Rogen, Kathryn Hahn, Bryan Cranston, Ike Barinholtz and Chase Sui Wonders, will bring the biopic to Italy for a splashy debut at the Venice Film Festival, where Madonna and Garner will be on hand to promote the project and grab Oscar buzz, sources say. Another person close to the production said Madonna will not be playing the director of the fictional biopic at The Studio. Emmy winner Donald Glover was also photographed on the Italian set with the singer and Garner, so we’ll leave it up to you to draw your own conclusions. And, as many industry insiders expected, the second half of Madonna’s episode focuses on the all-important debate over journalists timing festival standing ovations to find out how a film will perform in the wider world. Please believe me. That’s all.
Landing Madonna was an impressive tightrope act for Rogen and “The Studio” co-creator Evan Goldberg, who needed to acquire an image-conscious megastar and convince her to revive an actual project that had failed to launch. There’s a sneaking suspicion that Madonna will end up in Hollywood, at least by The Studio’s standards. A Netflix spokesperson declined to comment on the matter. An Apple TV spokesperson could not be reached for comment.
Above all, filming in Venice caused a huge buzz among fans after 41 years. Garner and Madonna paid homage to their 1984 music video for “Like a Virgin” by glide through Venice’s canals in a gondola while pouting for the cameras. If only development went this easily.
