Madonna

[Angeman]

I had said the biopic has stalled ages ago and was laughed at.

It is my understanding Universal want to sell off the rights to the movie as she’s too difficult to work with and won’t compromise. Some slight insider info. That’s all I know.

I dont think we needed insider info to know that. Lol I mean the signs were there since the Diablo Cody rewrite, Madonnas headstrong personality, and the fact it has taken over two years to even get to this point

[Artoo]

Madonna shouldn’t have to compromise her own biopic.

[MDNHAY]

I dont think we needed insider info to know that. Lol I mean the signs were there since the Diablo Cody rewrite, Madonnas headstrong personality, and the fact it has taken over two years to even get to this point

Regardless I was told to at I was wrong and that it would be so despite all the signs… anyhow.

I agree she should have her vision coke to life. Not that of others.
Personably I’d rather a document series that details each era and significant moments if her life.

[floridagrl]

[nympho]

There’s also the fact biopics of musicians has taken a bit of a downturn lately, and that cinema hasn’t yet fully recovered from the pandemic (unless it’s a big property name). Both Elvis and Whitney have underperformed in the last twelve months.

Whitney’s biopic has been a flop (just $53 million so far on a $45M budget… I doubt it’ll even reach 70M in the long run) and with bad critics.
But Elvis’? No way. Not only it received good critics and it has been nominated for 8 Oscars today (including Best Actor and Best Picture), but regarding the box office:
“The film was a commercial success, grossing $287.3 million worldwide on an $85 million budget, as well as being the second-highest-grossing music biopic of all time behind Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) and the fourth-highest-grossing Australian-produced film”.

It has obviously not achieved the huuuge numbers of Bohemian Rhapsody, but it has performed way better than Elton’s biopic, for example, ($195M). A film released before the pandemic.
Elvis biopic was a hit both critically and commercially.

[MDNHAY]

I’d say 195million even for Elton is great given I can’t see the budget for that being much higher.

i loved the Elvis movie. I’d love it it that artistic direction was handled by a director with Madonna there to guide the project. She needs to find someone to gel with and really bring it to life

[Artoo]

Elvis biopic was a hit both critically and commercially.

I didn’t say it flopped, I said it underperformed. It only grossed $150m domestically.

[floridagrl]

[floridagrl]

Artoo.... You pegged this!!!!

^ Holy sh*t!! That was amazing!!

[music126]

Is the Power Of Goodbye on her recent Instagram a new vocal? Or was it pulled from some kind of live performance of the song?

[Angeman]

Is the Power Of Goodbye on her recent Instagram a new vocal? Or was it pulled from some kind of live performance of the song?

Its a 10 year old soundcloud remix from a fan. Im not sure where the link is now but it was going around on other M fansites

[HELENEAIMER]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cA3TBBCdBs
great reaction for Rebel Heart

[Marchum]

Forbidden Love x2 Medley. Manifesting.

[nympho]

I didn’t say it flopped, I said it underperformed. It only grossed $150m domestically.

“Only”?
It was #12 on the yearly US boxscore chart of 2022. First movie not part of a franchise or a sequel. In fact, it did better in US than WW, (#16 on the YEC).
If you think those numbers are not good, then “Bohemian Rhapsody” grossed “only” $216M in US, 24% of its total… But Elvis did 53% domestically and 47% overseas.
Back to your original post, Whitney’s movie was a flop or a big underperformance, no doubt.
But Elvis didn’t underperform, neither in US, nor WW. It was a hit.
It will probably return to some cinemas now with the Oscars noms, so it’ll gross even a bit more.

[Frederic]

Such a masterpiece. The song (A&B edit) and video still give me goosebumps to this day.

[Forreal]

I'm glad that it's scrapped right now. Madonna should be very involved with the movie, it's her story to tell after all. But she should choose a great director who can tell the story the way M wants and be executive producer or something else.

I second that.

Even if she will do a hell of good job as director, the movie will be panned by most of the critics, no matter what

[Forreal]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cA3TBBCdBs
great reaction for Rebel Heart

Great indeed….. but TOO long

[Forreal]

Is the Power Of Goodbye on her recent Instagram a new vocal? Or was it pulled from some kind of live performance of the song?

Thank god no live performance of the song was used for this, LOL

[Artoo]

“Only”?
It was #12 on the yearly US boxscore chart of 2022. First movie not part of a franchise or a sequel. In fact, it did better in US than WW, (#16 on the YEC).
If you think those numbers are not good, then “Bohemian Rhapsody” grossed “only” $216M in US, 24% of its total… But Elvis did 53% domestically and 47% overseas.
Back to your original post, Whitney’s movie was a flop or a big underperformance, no doubt.
But Elvis didn’t underperform, neither in US, nor WW. It was a hit.
It will probably return to some cinemas now with the Oscars noms, so it’ll gross even a bit more.

I stand by my statement. As I have said, it underperformed rather than flopped. When looking at whether a movie is a success or not, a studio looks at the domestic gross rather than the combined international gross, as they don’t have as high a percentage of return as they do domestically (and why a movie can make a profit but not get a planned sequel, such as the fourth Divergent movie). Reported budgets rarely include the promotion costs, so that bumps up the overall cost - and the return on the investment isn’t high.

End of year charts mean very little in cinema (unless you’re number one, then you get bragging rights). It is a business and money speaks - and Elvis had very little to talk about in terms of box office scores. Bohemian Rhapsody had a significantly lower budget yet in its opening weekend it more or less broke even, then went on to make a significant profit margin domestically. Elvis has yet to double its money domestically.

Why are we discussing this? Well, I think it’s fair to say Universal would have given Madonna a significant budget to make her biopic. Looking at recent examples, I don’t think a budget of $50m would have been unrealistic, yet the downturn on biopic movies makes it riskier - including the fact that the target audience (probably forty and over) are still hesitant to return to the cinema (which also contributed to Elvis’ under performance).

Reports are coming out that Madonna submitted a number of script drafts that all exceeded 180 pages - meaning her movie was at least three hours long. Research shows most cinema goers prefer a two hour movie and are put off if it’s much longer (another issue with the Elvis movie), which is yet another strike against it I guess.

Whilst Madonna’s biopic was announced in the pandemic, the deal was probably negotiated before Covid hit. The subsequent closure of the movie business probably means Universal’s priorities have changed since the deal was made, as cinema has changed significantly over the last couple of years. Thus, it’s possible Universal and Madonna simply aren’t on the same page anymore and the big epic Madonna envisages isn’t financially feasible anymore with this particular studio.

That doesn’t mean another studio won’t want it. Warner Bros produced the Elvis movie and part of Warner’s current remit is to make their streaming service (HBO Max) a success. They need content. Baz Luhrmann has already teased a 4 hour director cut of Elvis, and HBO Max found great success releasing a director cut of Justice League exclusively on their platform. The fact Warner green light Elvis knowing they had such an excess of scripted material, seems exactly like the kind of studio that might be open to Madonna’s vision. Then there’s the small fact Madonna has been part of the Warner family since 1982 and recently returned to the fold.

Resting the idea whilst cinema recovers, working on the script and outlining a real plan of action with a new studio seems like a great idea at this point. I don’t personally see Madonna committing to a mini series, but I know Warner have told investors they’re committed to big franchise names - could they convince Madonna to become a franchise? The possibilities of working with Warner seem to be bigger than at Universal.

I mean, they could make the movie, then do a director extended cut on streaming, various ‘making of’ documentaries, then do a deeper dive with a documentary series about Madonna’s career. Warner could then upload all of her world tours (aside from Madame X) and even her music videos. There would be nothing stopping them doing a full onslaught of Madonna content on HBO Max. We could even get Blond Ambition Tour, finally

[spiritboy]

Are you checking US box office gross of movies released during pandemic? Cause if you do, it did very well. I don't know how the situation in US but outside of Marvel movies and some blockbusters, people are reluctant to go to cinema. Elvis movie did very well considering the conditions.

And a Madonna biopic directed by her would be a critical and commercial disaster. Madonna is well and alive and there's nothing mysterious about her. IIf the tour goes well and her re-issues are handled properly, then she can hire a great female director to tell her story.

[Artoo]

Are you checking US box office gross of movies released during pandemic? Cause if you do, it did very well. I don't know how the situation in US but outside of Marvel movies and some blockbusters, people are reluctant to go to cinema. Elvis movie did very well considering the conditions.

Which I’d why I’ve never said it flopped. I do think they hoped Elvis would be a big property name and thus make more money than it did. I mean even James Cameron said he would consider Avatar 2 to underperform if it didn’t become one of the top grossing films of all time, meaning a gross of $2b (which it now has).

[nympho]

Artoo
Agree to disagree…
It’s not subjective, though… Not something I’m making up… you can find dozens of entries in internet from reliable sources about Elvis being a commercial success…
But anyway, it’s going really off topic. So we better move on.

[Artoo]

Artoo
Agree to disagree…
It’s not subjective, though… Not something I’m making up… you can find dozens of entries in internet from reliable sources about Elvis being a commercial success…
But anyway, it’s going really off topic. So we better move on.

I never once said it wasn’t a commercial success

[Artoo]

Listening to You Can Dance… Spotlight really should have been a single.

[floridagrl]