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Madonna<\/a> is just a material girl, living in a material world. <\/p>\n The \u201cVogue\u201d hitmaker graced the cover of Interview<\/a> magazine for the Summer 2026 issue and in the accompanying chat, the singer revealed the reason the ultra-hyped biopic with \u201cOzark<\/a>\u201d star Julia Garner<\/a> was scrapped: not enough cold hard cash. <\/p>\n Turns out, Universal Studios was not Madonna\u2019s Mr. Right. According to the pop star, the studio didn\u2019t share her vision for a budget for the film. <\/p>\n \u201cI worked on my script for two years and spent two years at Universal Studios with the line producers doing budgeting and casting,\u201d she told the magazine. \u201cWe had a falling out, me and Universal, regarding budget because I needed \u2014 I\u2019ve had an extraordinary life. I\u2019ve had a huge life, so I needed a big budget. You know what I mean?\u201d <\/p>\n The film had been in the works for years, and in 2021 Universal Pictures won a multi-studio auction to helm the biopic. According to Variety,<\/a> the script followed Madonna from her upbringing in the suburbs of Detroit, her artistic awakening in 1980s New York City, and concluded around the 1998 release of \u201cRay of Light.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cI found a way to make it for less money in Serbia, but I don\u2019t think they were into the idea of \u2014 I don\u2019t know,\u201d she said. \u201cMaybe they just didn\u2019t believe in me.\u201d<\/p>\n Madonna said the studio couldn\u2019t wrap its head around what she was suggesting and countered that she wouldn\u2019t \u201cstay in Serbia more than four days.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cI said, \u2018Did you read the script?\u2019 My whole life has been survival. I\u2019m not going there for a holiday.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Madonna said that she was in \u201climbo\u201d when the movie plans fell apart, and she considered telling her life story through a Netflix series when the streamer came knocking. But she wouldn\u2019t be able to use the script she had penned for Universal without buying it from the studio for \u201can extortionist\u2019s price,\u201d even though she wrote it. <\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s just the way it goes,\u201d she continued. \u201cI started trying to understand how making a series would work. It\u2019s a very, very different process. You have to meet a lot of writers and find the right showrunner, and I couldn\u2019t find one. This went on for another eight or nine months. I was like, \u2018Good thing I have another job because I need to work, I need to create. I need to do what I was put on this earth to do.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Representatives for Universal Pictures, Netflix and Garner did not immediately respond to The Times\u2019 request for comment. <\/p>\n Through the process of writing the script, Madonna was bitten by the memoir bug, but she channeled that confessional energy into her forthcoming album, \u201cConfessions on a Dance Floor: Part II,\u201d which drops July 3. A 13-minute music video<\/a> weaving together six tracks from the new album was released earlier this month and featured A-list cameos by Sabrina Carpenter<\/a>, Kate Moss, Lourdes Leon, Benedict Cumberbatch and more.<\/p>\n