There has been no shortage of musician biopics put out in recent years. The film industry has always been fascinated by the lives of artists, but it feels like there has been a recent upward trend in these types of films. While it seems like they will make a movie about anyone these days, several biopics haven’t made it past the ideation stage. Learn more about three musician biopics that were ultimately scrapped (or put on hold) before fans got to see them.
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Madonna
First on our list of biopics is a Madonna project that has confused fans with its trajectory. In typical Madonna style, the pop queen was set to co-write and direct her own biopic several years ago. The studio was picked, the lead actress was cast, but ultimately the original iteration of the film was scrapped. What that version of the biopic included, we will never know.
Despite this temporary disappointment for fans, Madonna announced in 2024 that she was having another go at writing the biopic’s script. Actress Julia Garner also confirmed that she was still set to play the icon at some point. “I can’t say too much about it, but yes, it’s a work in progress,” was her official word on the subject. Hopefully, sometime in the near future, we will be able to relive Madonna’s rise to fame, complete with an era-defining soundtrack.
Bee Gees
Though he’s more known for action movies than biopics, Ridley Scott was set to direct a Bee Gees film before contract negotiations got in the way. The Gladiator director warned Paramount that he would indeed walk away if they didn’t get things nailed down. For whatever reason, they couldn’t agree, and he did just that.
“I was being asked to go too far,” Scott reportedly said. “And I said, ‘No. Next!’ They didn’t like my deal. So I said, I’ll move on. I’m expensive, but I’m fu**ing good.”
Though this biopic is still in the pipeline, there’s no word on when we’ll take a journey through the life and times of the Gibb brothers. The disco craze deserves more love in the film scene. Given the current rebirth of floor-filling musicality in pop, biopics in this vein should be made sooner rather than later.
Jeff Buckley
Lastly, on our list of biopics, we have a scrapped Jeff Buckley project. Brad Pitt reportedly attempted to portray Buckley in a biopic, but was shot down by the late artist’s mother. Her response to his request was apparently, “We’re going to dye your hair, put brown contact lenses on those baby blues, and you’re going to open your mouth, and Jeff’s voice is going to come out?”
In the end, Pitt joined a Buckley documentary, It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley, as a producer. It wasn’t the original goal, but Pitt still got to introduce a new generation of fans to Buckley.
(Photo by Mick Hutson/Redferns)
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