Madonna teams up with Stranger Things producer Shawn Levy to create biopic TV series
Levy previously met with Madonna to ask for permission to use 'Like A Prayer' in Deadpool & Wolverine
By Gary Grimes
Madonna has confirmed she is working with Shawn Levy to create a TV series based on her life story for Netflix.
The singer has famously been working to bring her story to life on screen for a number of years now, having previously been developing a film with Universal Pictures that was due to star Ozark actress Julia Garner as the Material Girl.
The singer had co-written a script with Juno writer Diablo Cody, however the film never came to fruition and Cody departed the project. Singer Sky Ferreira also confirmed she participated in the storied ‘bootcamp’ auditions which took place at Madonna’s home.
Although the TV series will “start from scratch” and will not be based on previous drafts of the planned biopic film, Deadline reports that Garner would still “most likely play Madonna, subject of availability as she doesn’t have a deal.”
Last year, the star revealed she was considering pivoting her plans to a TV series due to constant roadblocks in getting the film off the ground, including budget issues.
“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,” she wrote in November of last year.
EXCLUSIVE: Global music superstar Madonna has partnered with global streamer Netflix to tell her story. A limited series about her life and music is in early development at Netflix, with Madonna and Shawn Levy, whose 21 Laps has an exclusive TV overall deal at the platform,… pic.twitter.com/ifYfsRx6ic
— Deadline (@DEADLINE) May 12, 2025
“I guess I should be grateful.. It forces me to think outside the box. I did not have a normal life. I cannot make this in the normal way.”
Levy, an accomplished actor, writer and producer, is perhaps best known for his work producing and directing the hit Netflix series Stranger Things. He most recently served as director on the blockbuster Marvel Comics film Deadpool & Wolverine, which famously used Madonna’s 1989 classic ‘Like A Prayer’ at pivotal sequences in the film.
It was reported that Levy and the film’s star and co-writer Ryan Reynolds met with the ‘Vogue’ singer in person to ask for permission to use the track in the film, which perhaps sparked initial conversations between Levy and Madonna regarding the upcoming TV series.