Universal Developing Madonna Film Biopic

It looks like Madonna is next in line to get the film biopic treatment. Before she was a provocative and sometimes controversial pop icon (and later a actress and director), the artist Madonna was a young aspiring singer from Michigan named Madonna Louise Ciccone, struggling to make her way in New York. The origins of Madonna has long been somewhat shrouded in mystery, in part because the singer herself has preferred to purvey myth over fact; but now the real early days of Madonna's life are set to be explored on the big screen.

Screenwriter Elyse Hollander has put together a script about Madonna's days in New York in the post-punk early '80s, including the recording of her self-titled first album and her initial brushes with fame. That script landed at #1 on the 2016 Black List of Best Unproduced Screenplays in Hollywood and now it's on the way to being produced, after all.

As reported by Birdman.

Madonna singing into a microphone in Evita

Hollander's script shows Madonna working as a waitress in New York and trying to make it in the city's pop-punk scene, initially as a singer with a band called the Emmys. Madonna eventually dumps the Emmys and hooks up with producer Jellybean Benitez, a relationship that is both romantic and professional. Together Madonna and Benitez produce the single "Holiday", which sets Madonna on the road to stardom.

The script continues the story on into Madonna's early days as a pop star, showing the way MTV helped the image-conscious singer propel herself into the spotlight. Along the way, the script touches on certain legendary events from the opening years of Madonna's career, including her feud with Cher. Generally, the story touches on the struggles of women in the recording industry, depicting young Madonna as a relentlessly ambitious woman who refuses to be denied in her climb to stardom.

With the script and production team in place, now the big chore will be casting the young Madonna. Young actresses all over the world will doubtless be lining up to dye their hair blonde, put on a crop-top and show Universal that they should be the one to bring early-'80s, pre-stardom Madonna to the screen. The search for Young Madonna in Blond Ambition should be to 20-something actresses what the hunt for Young Han Solo was to 20-something actors.