Madonna Biopic Canceled: Major Red Flag That Prevented Florence Pugh, Sydney Sweeney From Auditioning

After learning that a crucial component was missing from the biopic about Madonna, agents for celebrities who were interested in playing the singer panicked.

Before the movie was scrapped, there were already reservations about it.

The 64-year-old's project which was supposed to be under Universal Pictures, was shelved not long after she announced a major global tour. The choice to cancel it, nevertheless, is said to have been taken earlier.

The Queen of Pop was going to direct and co-write the movie, which was initially announced in 2020.

Initially contracted to pen the script, Diablo Cody resigned in April 2021 after finding the "Like a Virgin" singer difficult to collaborate with. Erin Wilson was then hired to complete another draft of the script.

But according to The Sun's source, no final draft of the script was ever created. Additionally, it was apparently discussed to divide the movie into two parts and turn it into a miniseries.

In June 2022, Julia Garner apparently secured the lead part after defeating other young actresses in testing boot camp-style tryouts. The writing dispute was still in progress at the time.

Before the entire project failed, a Hollywood insider said to the site that the absence of a screenplay while the movie was hunting for its main part had raised eyebrows.

They stated that casting began in the first quarter of 2021, but the absence of a completed script for Madonna's biopic raised the first significant red flag in Hollywood.

A number of other celebrities, like Florence Pugh and Sydney Sweeney, also showed a sincere interest in the part. Their reps allegedly went ballistic when they learned that the movie still lacked a completed screenplay.

To land the desired part, the actresses-including Julia-had already begun attending dancing classes and exercising their voice chords.

Even after being picked to play Madonna, Julia never signed a contract since the casting process took "forever" and Madonna and Universal Pictures executives apparently kept changing their minds about the screenplay.

If another production firm decided to pick up the project, they would have to pay Universal back for their expenditures and start from over because of the turmoil, and Universal reportedly left $12 million "in the hole."

According to reports, Madonna's bizarre social media posts during the months when she was meant to be working on her film led to the cancellation of her biopic.

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