What is going on with Madonna's biopic? Here’s everything we know about the movie she’s been ‘struggling’ to make.

Madonna says the struggle to make her self-directed biopic is real.

The 66-year-old singer shared an update on the film project on Instagram on Nov. 18. She expressed frustration over its delay — now four years after it was announced — but said she has the dogged persistence to see it through.

What just happened?

The iconic entertainer reported that she was in Los Angeles meeting with producers and agents who told her “why I couldn’t make my film,” which she has “been working on for 4 years.” She said she was told to scale back the production and “‘think small.’”

Madonna wrote that throughout her 40-plus-year career, she has faced nonstop challenges creating her art. This has not only inspired her to keep going, she said, but has also forced her “to think outside the box.”

But because she “did not have a normal life,” she wrote, “I cannot make this in the normal way.” This has made her realize that she has to “be even more fearless” in pursuit of the project, since she believes that “If you want something badly enough in life — the whole universe will conspire to [help] you get it.”

She concluded her post by asking fans whether she should continue in her quest for “the story of my life” to be made into a feature film — or whether she should pivot to a television series.

In the comments, fans seemed split in their reaction. They just want to see it.

What has been the holdup?

The project has been in development since 2020.

In September 2020, the Material Girl confirmed that a collaboration she had been touting with screenwriter Diablo Cody was in fact a biopic about her life that she would direct. She said it would follow her "struggle as an artist trying to survive in a man's world as a woman," and said it would be a "happy, sad, mad, crazy, good, bad, and ugly" tale.

The unfinished script was 107 pages at that point, and she was to produce it with Pascal Pictures's Amy Pascal, whom Madonna worked with on A League of Their Own in 1992.

In April 2021, it was reported that Cody had quit. However, Entertainment Weekly reported that Cody had finished the script, for Universal Pictures, and had “moved on” to a new project.

In September 2021, Madonna told the Associated Press that Florence Pugh was on the list to play her in what she called a “visual autobiography.” She said the writing process had been “long and arduous” but also “therapeutic.”

In October 2021, Madonna said she was “almost finished with the script.” In a now-deleted post, she tagged screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson (Secretary, The Girl on the Train), who had taken over scriptwriting duties.

In January 2022, Madonna said she had talked to Julia Fox about playing her BFF, Debi Mazar, in the film.

In February 2022, Madonna shared a behind-the-scenes look at a “boot camp” she was holding for actors auditioning for the film. The process, headed by the casting director Carmen Cuba, was “grueling,” a source told Hollywood Reporter.

Over months, hopefuls had to go through intense choreography sessions with Madonna’s choreographer, some lasting 11 hours a day. It was reported that Pugh and Julia Garner were in the running to play her and whoever won the role was expected to act, dance and sing. Bebe Rexha, Alexa Demie, Odessa Young and Sky Ferreira also reportedly auditioned.

In June 2022, Variety reported that Emmy winner Garner (Ozark) had won the role of the pop icon. Madonna said in a statement that she hoped 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. The focus of this film will always be music. Music has kept me going, and art has kept me alive.”

In July that year, she told Variety she was trimming the script. She called the film a “preemptive strike, because a lot of people were trying to make movies about me. Mostly misogynistic men. So I put my foot in the door and said, 'No one's going to tell my story but me.'"

In January 2023, Variety reported that the biopic had been scrapped. The line was that Madonna still intended to make the film, but that she would be focused on her “Celebration Tour” in the immediate future.

In May 2023, she shared a photo on Instagram showing her with Garner, writing, "Bitch we're Madonna! ??????," keeping hope alive.

In December 2023, Madonna, who had recovered from a health scare, had Garner onstage with her during her “Celebration Tour” stop in Brooklyn, N.Y.

In June this year, Fox said she had been cast to play Mazar but wasn’t sure it would happen. The story had them going back to when “when they’re like 19,” so she might have aged out of the part.

In July, the singer announced that the biopic was back on, after being reworked. The title would be Who's That Girl, a nod to her 1987 film and song of the same name. Garner was still attached to the project, according to Entertainment Weekly.

In the recent post, Madonna expressed her frustration with the speed bumps she was hitting with the project from producers (including the budget) and agents, but seemed no less determined than four years ago.

Madonna’s movie history

Madonna has directed two feature films: 2008’s Filth and Wisdom and 2011’s W.E. Both times, critics were tough on her efforts, but that’s really nothing new.

While Madonna doesn’t have plans to appear in her biopic, she has acted in movies since the 1980s, including in Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), Shanghai Surprise (1986), Dick Tracy (1990), Body of Evidence (1993), Evita (1996) and Swept Away (2002).

She also had a memorable rock doc, Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991). Now, practically every pop star has one, but hers changed the way artists told their stories.