Madonna teams up with director Shawn Levy and Netflix for limited series: Everything we know so far

The "Queen of Pop," Madonna (Madonna Louise Ciccone), is also appropriately referred to as the "Queen of Reinvention" because of her ever-evolving journey with music and the art she creates. In 2025, Madonna is reportedly teaming up with Netflix and director Shawn Levy, as executive producers, to work on a limited series about her life and music.

According to a source, the limited series is in no way related to the biopic Madonna announced back in 2020. It stated:

"The duo (Madonna and Levy), who had been discussing the project for awhile, are starting from scratch: the biographical limited series is not related to the Madonna feature biopic which was previously in development at Universal with three-time Emmy winner Julia Garner as the choice to play the Queen of Pop."

The details of the content of the limited series are kept under wraps at the moment.

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What we know of Madonna's limited series with Shawn Levy

According to Deadline, it may be possible that Julia Garner, who was set to play the role of the Material Girl singer in the now-scrapped biopic, will be playing the same role in the limited series. This is what the outlet reported:

"I hear the Ozark star would most likely play Madonna, subject of availability as she doesn’t have a deal. (Garner would also feel right at home at Netflix where she just signed on her for her third series, an FTX limited series, following her turns on Inventing Anna and Ozark)".

Julia Garner and Ciconne have been seen together recently, the former supporting her fellow artist at her Celebration Tour. They were also seen partying together at the Girls Gone Wild's Oscars party this year.

The Nobody Knows Me singer has expressed wanting full independence when it came to her biopic with Universal Pictures. However, it is not revealed if Ciconne will be writing the script for the limited series or not. It is also unclear which part of her life will be portrayed in the show.

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What happened to Madonna's biopic?

The I'm Going to Tell You a Secret actress announced that she would be releasing a biopic five years ago, in 2020. She said:

"I want 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."

However, after working with Universal Pictures, Hollywood Reporter confirmed that the production was scrapped and "no longer in development". There were multiple issues, and according to one source, they said:

"You have 40 years of success, and it’s very hard to put that into one movie," the source mentioned after talks about spliting the biopic into two movies emerged.

Before deciding to make the limited series last year, the Queen of Pop posted on Instagram expressing her struggles relating to the making of her biopic and asked for her fans' help. She posted:

"After struggling for days in LA , listening to producers and agents Tell me why I couldn’t make my film —I(been working on it for 4 years!!!). Downsize-down scale -think smaller-they say—I realized that everything in my life is going to be challenged... I did not have a normal life. I cannot make this in the normal way."

She added:

We cannot shrink and make ourselves smaller. If you want something badly enough in life— the whole universe will conspire to [help] you get it."

She then asked her fans if the

"story of my life into a series or a feature film."

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Once more, the Papa, Don't Preach singer is taking control of her narrative by teaming up with Shawn Levy and Netflix to work on a limited series surrounding her life. Although her biopic may be on pause, this does not seem to stop Ciconne from finding other paths and ways to reinvent herself.