Madonna is coming to the screen again… but not yet in her long-gestated own biopic.
Evan Rachel Wood (of Westworld fame) is playing her in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. The movie, which is currently being filmed, will star Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe as the five-times Grammy winner. It will stream on Roku later this year.
Weird Al famously covered Madonna’s hit, ‘Like A Virgin’ as ‘Like A Surgeon’. Apparently, it was Madonna herself who suggested the title of the parody, and Weird Al, who normally didn’t like to take other people’s suggestions, thought it too good to turn down.
Roku yesterday released its first image of Wood as Madonna. The actress also shared it to her Instagram.
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The movie will also feature Rainn Wilson (The Office) as Dr. Demento (the DJ who gave Yankovic his break by playing his parody songs), and Toby Huss and Julianne Nicholson as Yankovic’s parents.
Madonna herself has not commented on the casting.
This is not the first time the music legend has been portrayed on screen. In 2019, the late Jamie Auld played her in ‘Madonna and the Breakfast Club’.
Madonna herself has been busy working on a screenplay about the story of her rise to fame and early years of success. She is also set to direct the project.
According to The Hollywood Reporter this week, the movie is currently auditioning for its lead. Actors being considered include Julia Garner (Ozark), Florence Pugh (Midsommar), Alexa Demie (Euphoria), Odessa Young (Mothering Sunday), Emma Laird (Mayor of Kingstown), and singer Sky Ferreira.
An inside source said the auditioning process is “grueling”. They include intense—sometimes up to 11-hour-a-day—choreography sessions with Madonna’s choreographer, after which there are further dance and singing sessions with Madonna herself.
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Chrisk
Seeing the one with Weird Al sounds interesting. However, I don’t want to see any screenplay where she’s got that much control over it’s content. I’m sure anything that’s not flattering to Madonna would not be allowed. I mean how boring can you get.
graphicjack
Madonna is not shy about showing her flaws as well as her strengths. She allowed a pretty honest and sometimes unflattering portrayal of her personality in Truth or Dare. She’s also been very honest in interviews that in the past she was pretty difficult, selfish and demanding, but has grown a lot since becoming a mother. I have a feeling this could be quite juicy. There’s her family life before fame, NYC in the late 70s and early 80s which would have been grungy and edgy, her struggles to make it as a dancer, then a musician, her apartment being broken into, getting raped on a roof, all the men (and women?) she slept with, meeting friends and lovers like Basquiat, Warhol, Haring, etc. Her friendship with Debi Mazar. Going to France. There’s a lot to cover… including how ambitious and sometimes cold she could be at times. I don’t think it’s going to be an (overly) whitewashed version of her life, but whether or not it ends up being good is hard to say. Critics are likely to trash it no matter what as they’ve always loved to trash her. I say watch it when it comes out and make up your own mind. It has potential to be good, but whether it will be is too soon to tell.
ScottOnEarth
You aren’t serious. Madonna admits to absolutely no flaws and I’m sure her self-written, self-directed so-called auto-biographical movie will be mostly fiction, starting with her infamous lie about coming to NYC with only $35 dollars in her pocket. She’s all about image and will absolutely contort facts to suit her ego. A hard pass on that certain disaster of a movie.
BrokebackBob
Just NO! A thousand times no. She should play herself and act like she did at every stage of her life and career. I only want to see this because she and I are the same age 65.
Bjarne Henriksen
She’s 64 this year, so you’re either not the same age or you’ve forgotten how old you are…
IvanPH
Julia Garner would be perfect as Madonna. And they have the same height.
ScottOnEarth
The real news here is that Jamie Auld died?! She was really good in “Madonna and the Breakfast Club.” She not only looked like young, beautiful Madonna but she was very convincing as Madonna, playing her with her contrived mannerisms and quirks. So sad that she died so young.
Ronbo
In my book, Madonna is a 9.8/10.
I’m amazed by the kidz who think she should not write her own biography. ‘What the hell does she know about her own feelings and actions!’