Madonna has likely found her Madonna.
Julia Garner is the frontrunner to land the role of the pop icon in the biopic from Universal that will be directed by Madonna herself, while it is still unclear at what stage of the dealmaking is in. If a deal does make, the Inventing Anna star earned the opportunity to portray Madonna after a months-long process that included sessions of choreography with the singer’s choreographer, as well as choreography, singing and reading sessions with Madonna herself. Other actresses who were about to role and who were considered are Florence Pugh, Odessa Young and Alexa Demie, among a multitude of others.
Amy Pascal is set to produce the movie, which was co-written by Secretary writer Erin Cressida Wilson.
Previously, some developments were attached to produce the biopic by Brett Ratner’s RatPac and Michael De Luca about the singer for Universal based on the 2016 Black List script Blonde Ambition.
In 2020, it was announced that the singer would be directing a biopic for Universal and co-writing the screenplay with Oscar-winner Diablo Cody. Wilson later took over co-writing duties.
Madonna said in October during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon “The reason I’m doing it is because a bunch of people have tried to write movies about me, but they’re always men,”.
On the features side, this would be the biggest role to date for Garner, who has stuck mainly in smaller-budgeted projects and indie fare like The Assistant and Grandma. She has earned two Emmys for her role in the Netflix crime drama series Ozark. She most recently starred in the streamer’s Shonda Rhimes series Inventing Anna.
She is repped by UTA, Anonymous Content and Sloane Offer.
