Madonna to direct, co-write film about her own life

Pop music superstar Madonna will direct and co-write a film about her life for Comcast Corp's CMCSA.O Universal Pictures, the studio said in a statement on Tuesday according to Reuters. 

Madonna, 62, will team with Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody on the script, Universal added. 

The script is expected to chart her rise from the slums of New York to global superstardom, according to BBC. It will feature songs such as Like A Virgin and Vogue.

Universal Pictures had previously attracted the artist's anger by snapping up an unofficial script based on her life. Nevertheless, no casting or production timeline for the film has been announced, but the pop star has charted the early stages of scripting on her Instagram account.

Madonna said the film would focus on her music, given that music has kept her going and "art has kept me alive."

The yet-to-be-titled project will be Madonna's third directorial after her 2008's Filth and Wisdom and 2011's WE, which was based around King Edward VIII's affair with Wallis Simpson.

The latter was panned by critics, and bombed at the box office, making just $2m (£1.5m) against a budget of $11m (£8.5m).

However, rock and pop biopics are in the middle of a purple patch, with huge successes for Elton John's Rocketman and the Freddie Mercury film Bohemian Rhapsody, for which Rami Malek earned an Oscar.

In a Q&A with fans, she said the biopic would be about her "struggle as an artist trying to survive in a man's world," adding that the journey covers a range of emotions: "happy, sad, mad, crazy, good, bad and ugly".

She added that the plot would address her relationship with artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, the fallout from her controversial Like A Prayer video and her experience filming Evita.

"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," Madonna said in a statement, confirming her directorial role.

"It's essential to share the roller coaster ride of my life with my voice and vision," she concluded.

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