Madonna has always been the one telling us who she is through fashion, controversy, and reinvention after reinvention. So it's no surprise that she’s not letting Hollywood water down her legacy with a two-hour surface-level retelling. Instead, she’s developing a limited series with Netflix that allows her groundbreaking journey the room it deserves.

After the much-hyped biopic she was writing, directing, and fiercely protecting got shelved in 2023, many thought that was the end of her self-made screen story. The original film had Oscar buzz, intense boot camps to find the right Madonna (with Julia Garner eventually cast), and scripts that reportedly went through multiple rewrites. But when Madonna hit pause to focus on her Celebration Tour — her first retrospective tour and a major global success — the film quietly disappeared.

The project is now back in motion, this time as a limited series. It’s being developed in partnership with director and producer Shawn Levy (Stranger Things, All the Light We Cannot SeeDeadpool & Wolverine) and his company, 21 Laps Entertainment. Madonna remains creatively involved, though it’s still unclear whether she’ll return to the director’s chair or take on a more behind-the-scenes role.

From Biopic to Binge Series

Turning this into a series isn’t just a production tweak; it’s a power move. Let’s face it, Madonna’s life isn’t some neatly packaged Hollywood arc. It’s decades of disruption, reinvention, and influence that reshaped pop as we know it: from shocking the church to rewriting the rules of womanhood in music, she’s done it all — and done it loud.

Compressing that into a single feature film was always going to be limiting, while the series format offers the opportunity to explore her life with greater nuance, capturing not just the highlights but also the contradictions that shaped her rise to icon status.

Madonna’s Way or No Way

What makes this project so unique is that Madonna isn’t just the subject — she’s the storyteller. Unlike Bohemian Rhapsody or Elvis, where the stars weren’t alive to guide the narrative (or push back on sugarcoating), Madonna is alive, active, and deeply involved. She’s said from the beginning that she wants to protect her story from the male gaze, the studio spin, and the lazy takes that have often misrepresented her over the years.

“I want to convey the incredible journey that life has taken me on as an artist, a musician, a dancer — a human being,” she said when first announcing the biopic. “There’s nobody on this planet who can write or direct a film about me better than me.”

The Madonna series remains in early development, with no trailer, casting announcements, or release date confirmed. Still, its progress marks a significant step forward. Recent shows like Daisy Jones & the Six, Pam & Tommy, and Wu-Tang: An American Saga have made it clear that audiences are interested in deeper, more personal stories about the musicians who have shaped culture. Madonna isn’t simply part of that conversation. She helped define it. Her rise from a working-class background in Michigan to global stardom is about more than chart-topping hits; it's a story of cultural disruption. Over four decades, she has challenged conventions around gender, religion, and celebrity, constantly evolving while maintaining full control over her image and message.

This series isn’t just about one artist’s life. It’s about how she changed the rules of pop culture itself.