Madonna Considering ‘Inviting’ Team Behind ‘Barbie’ to Join Stalled Biopic — but There’s 1 Problem

Madonna has struggled to get her long-awaited biopic off the ground, but now a source exclusively tells Life & Style the singer is hoping to enlist the power team behind the hit 2023 film Barbie to make it happen.

"If Madonna could make this happen, it's an instant green-light," the source says of the film, which hit a huge roadblock in January 2023, when it was reported the project was no longer in the works.

Now, after the success of Barbie — which became the highest-grossing film ever released by Warner Bros. — the 66-year-old Queen of Pop may meet with its producers Margot Robbie and her husband, Tom Ackerley , as well as director-writer Greta Gerwig and her husband, cowriter Noah Baumbach .

"Margot, Tom, Greta and Noah are literally the only qualified filmmaking team with the clout and juice to get the Madonna biopic made and at the scale Madonna wants," explains the source.

In July, the "Like a Virgin" singer seemingly confirmed that the project was in the works once again. Madonna shared an Instagram post that featured a video compilation of photos of her at a typewriter. In one of the shots, the words "Who's That Girl" — a nod to her 1987 song and film of the same name — is seen, possibly revealing the biopic's title.

Universal Pictures had been attached to the project, but it's currently unclear if they are still working on the film.

Still, the source says, Madonna "has considered" inviting the team behind Barbie aboard "because Universal — the company that originally wanted to make the Madonna film — is desperate to be in business with Margot, Greta and their husbands."

There's only one issue standing in the "Material Girl" singer's way.

"The problem for Madonna, as with everything she does , is control," the insider reveals. "Madonna really wanted to be the lead producer and even the director of her movie — and that's still her dream. Bringing in Greta and Margot would mean an instant demotion for Madonna herself, and the movie is about her life!"

"That said," the source continues, "Madonna still desperately wants to get this movie made, and she is willing to do almost anything in pursuit of that goal. Plus, Madonna is heartened by the fact that some of her fans have told her to her face that Greta would be the perfect person to make the movie."

"That's a big reason why the idea of hooking up with Team Barbie got any traction with Madonna in the first place," adds the insider. "The people want this to happen!"

When the project was shut down in 2023, a source told The Hollywood Reporter that many of the script drafts were well over 180 pages and that there appeared to be drama behind the scenes. There were reportedly conversations about splitting the movie into two parts or making it into a miniseries, but neither of those options moved forward.

A source told the publication, "You have 40 years of success, and it's very hard to put that into one movie."