Madonna Returns to the Director's Chair for a Movie About Madonna
A portrait of the artist by the artist.
Aside from being the best-selling female music artist in history (335 million records worldwide) with the highest-grossing solo tour of all time, Madonna has also been successful in the film biz.
She has many acting credits from A League of Their Own to Dick Tracy. Her role as Eva Perón in Alan Parker's Evita even earned her a Golden Globe for Best Actress.
But Madonna has also climbed into the director's chair for the movies Filth and Wisdom and W.E.
Now, she's back in the spotlight, directing her third feature, but this one is not like anything she's done before.
In what seems to be an unprecedented creative move, one of the most meta-pop icons of all time will direct a film about her life and career from a script written by Oscar-winner Diablo Cody, who won Best Original Screenplay for Juno at the 2008 Academy Awards.
That's right, Madonna is making a movie about Madonna to be directed by Madonna.
According to Deadline, "The film will tell the story of Madonna’s growth into a chart-topping juggernaut and style icon with the staying power to become the all-time bestselling female artist—335 million records worldwide—and the highest-grossing solo touring numbers ever. She has been on the cover of more than 4700 magazines through her career. She and Cody have been very open on social media about their progress on the film, and even the other day she suggested the film might be called Live To Tell, a song from the 1986 film At Close Range."
“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,” Madonna said in a statement. “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.”
As a huge fan of both Madonna and Diablo Cody, I think this is going to be a project to keep an eye on.
I love the meta-narrative of this whole ordeal. The movie feels like a real-life Synecdoche, New York.
Universal exec Donna Langley and producer Amy Pascal are spearheading production. Pascal said, “This movie is an absolute labor of love for me,” Pascal said. “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 on bringing her true-life story to the big screen with Donna and our partners at Universal.”
No word yet as to who will play Madonna through the ages, but I bet Madonna herself steps in at some point.
What do you think of this project and who do you think should be in the titular role?
Let us know in the comments.
