Madonna Biopic 'Blond Ambition' Lands at Universal

[Xander 430]

[Guest ArthurBadin]

I wouldn't act differently if I were M too. This is kind one of the worst types of bad propaganda. Besides it's a very uncorrect, Lifetime-like for uneducated masses biopic, if gives the bad idea of what is being Madonna and what she did to become who she is. It's, as someone said, the theatre version of Innocence Lost but even worst, cause it focus on the time she was already a professional singer and of course it keeps all clichés and wrong, prejudice-inducing ideas about her. For sure she would have to call on her IG that this is a tabloid-worthy project.

As she said, only her can tell her story. We all are familiar (I suppose) with Lucy O'Brien biography book. It is fascinating, for sure, reveals about five years in advance her rape occured in late 1970's, and gives a real, unpartial point of view of her as much as celebrates her art and life, but that book was enough. Of course for someone who wants to know (or thinks to know) a very bad, diva-esque side of her there's Chris' infamous autobiography (the type of thing a M stan wants to run away from, however I do recommend its reading only for fun and good laughs, given it has ruined nothing on her career so far and I don't think it will be one day - and for real, she and her brother are talking friendly again and, although she seems to feel still betrayed by him due to that book, I think nothing of what he said was destroying or anyone like that, just bad words for money - Bread of Shame can be eaten right now). That's enough. I haven't read Taraborelli's bio so far but as far as I know, it's a good one. But this screenplay - if a movie is being in early stages of production using that horrendous screenplay, oh God, what we would expect? More and more hatred to her. It will be sure enough.

By the way, if someone will throw stones on me for being far from condemning Christopher Ciccone to the bonfire, know that his book is nothing comparing to an impact of a major studio movie. A lot more of people will have more access to a very wrong idea of her. This is the worst that could happen to her and to us as M stans. Of course we don't know how it will people's reactions - but it's fair to suppose that, given the January incident (and the vast history of reactions to her), most people will think, "yeah, she was a real bitch from the very first start - glad for me to never have bought her 'seductive poison.'"

What makes more wondering is why Universal Studios has thought it would be a good idea to invest in such a thing like that. Maybe they want some revenge from her as the whole Rebel Heart era wasn't enough. #SuchAShameUniversalStudios

[Guest ArthurBadin]

And if someone's doubting about my assumptions, check out what she said on IG prior to @@fiercemighty 's M's IG contribution - and deleted a few minutes after posting (don't know why, it was very elucidating) - very thanks to MadonnaOnline:

 

Read carefully both screenplay and her reaction. It matches with everything I said in my previous post. see y'all.

[Guest ArthurBadin]

Don't know why i've reminded of that, but this is very similar to Dietrich's reaction in her last months of life when it came out a bio book of hers. She was very furious about the related "facts" about her.

[Fighter 28,797]

On the Dick Clark interview she actually said "I was born in Detroit" and "I'm a famed high school drop out so don't believe anything they tell you" so thats why the script says that. I haven't read it all. I wonder what else she objects to specifically in the script. But honestly its not really a lie if she kinda said those things, its just a mistake.

[Guest ArthurBadin]

On the Dick Clark interview she actually said "I was born in Detroit" and "I'm a famed high school drop out so don't believe anything they tell you" so thats why the script says that. I haven't read it all. I wonder what else she objects to specifically in the script. But honestly its not really a lie if she kinda said those things, its just a mistake.

Oops! That's why she deleted the post. But anyway the screenplay has some inconsistances, such as making Kamins and Jellybean in just one character, and an intimate friendship with Cher at that time (don't know if it was legit since I haven't read nothing what would show this). The only connection I can recall about Cher and Madonna in the beginning of the latter's career was on Chris' book (Cher was at backstage with M during her preparation to LAV VMA performance).

[Fighter 28,797]

i dont know. Madonna is a current artist and i get that it must suck that a part of her life is gonna be displayed in large scale without her consent or approval or input and it has the potential to solidify some misconceptions further than they already have been, but I dont think the intention is to make a film full of lies. These type of movies often are loose with the facts... I think hollywood is just looking for feminist stories and this was an easy pitch with the potential for success. i could be wrong but I think that's just what it is. I sympathise with her though.

[groovyguy 63,856]

https://youtu.be/59G5m9nteAw

 

Published on Apr 2, 2017Final Scene from the Blonde Ambition script, the 2016 Blacklist chart topper. A project for the Los Angeles Film School.

[groovyguy 63,856]

On the Dick Clark interview she actually said "I was born in Detroit" and "I'm a famed high school drop out so don't believe anything they tell you" so thats why the script says that. I haven't read it all. I wonder what else she objects to specifically in the script. But honestly its not really a lie if she kinda said those things, its just a mistake.

[Fighter 28,797]

Holy shit. Ok i get why shes upset, that clip is absolutely horrific and appaling. Totally exploitative. I may be overestimating hollywood but I doubt the studio would go in that direction though without making big changes in tone. But now im just left speechless,...

[survivalartist 6,453]

Imagine a world where Lady Gaga does the talk shows about her role as Madonna in this silly idea. A mad, mad world indeed.

[survivalartist 6,453]

That clip tho.... Yeesh.

[Enrico 15,788]

I hadn't realized Rattner is the director of the Beautiful Stranger video!

[Enrico 15,788]

Anyway for those who haven't read it yet here is the full script to download - I posted it in the other topic about the subject:

 

http://www.madonna-infinity.net/forums/index.php?/topic/9888-madonna-biopic-tops-2016-hollywood-black-list/?p=533222

[Enrico 15,788]

Anyway for those who haven't read it yet here again is the full script to download - I posted it in the other topic about the subject:

 

http://www.madonna-infinity.net/forums/index.php?/topic/9888-madonna-biopic-tops-2016-hollywood-black-list/?p=533222

 

It's really bad and inaccurate!

[Guest ArthurBadin]

As we say here in Brazil, more firewood to the bonfire.

 

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/whats-inside-madonna-biopic-blond-ambition-can-she-stop-997914

 

Lol at the "Bianca Stonewell" reference. Is she one of that band "The Slits" perfomers that was interviewed by Lucy O'Brien for Madonna: Like an Icon (and accused M to be a copycat of hers)? Now I'm curious.

[Guest ArthurBadin]

 

And in the final scene, just moments after her triumphant performance of "Like a Virgin" at the 1984 MTV Music Video Awards, she callously informs Benitez that she aborted their child.

"I won't have to choose between my career and a family now," she says as she applies lipstick in a vanity mirror. "And that's how I want it." (The scene was shot by students at the Los Angeles Film School and uploaded to YouTube, making for an inadvertently hilarious piece of Madonna ephemera.)

Although as far as I know I recall reading on Like an Icon that she really aborted her child with Jellybean, the "announcement" of it seemed to have been place during Material Girl music video shooting. Don't know if there's something legit on that final scene from the film.

[poserdemadonna 1,630]

I found the script on Scribd but I can't download it as I don't have a paid subscription there https://www.scribd.com/document/334839832/Blonde-Ambition-Elyse-Hollander

[Guest ArthurBadin]

I found the script on Scribd but I can't download it as I don't have a paid subscription there https://www.scribd.com/document/334839832/Blonde-Ambition-Elyse-Hollander

I came for you @@poserdemadonna

 

http://www.madonna-infinity.net/forums/index.php?/topic/9888-madonna-biopic-tops-2016-hollywood-black-list/page-3#entry534057

 

See you!

[groovyguy 63,856]

[groovyguy 63,856]

We fact-checked the Madonna film script

By Mark Savage

BBC Music reporter

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-39730585

 

Madonna has disputed the accuracy of the biopic

 

Not for the first time, Madonna is on the war path.

The focus of her rage is Universal Pictures, who snapped up a script about the singer's early years in New York earlier this week.

 

Madonna sought out a copy of the screenplay, called Blonde Ambition, and immediately declared it to be "all lies".

 

"Nobody knows what I know and what I have seen." the 58-year-old fumed on Instagram.

 

"Only I can tell my story. Anyone else who tries is a charlatan and a fool. Looking for instant gratification without doing the work. This is a disease in our society."

 

Madonna's representative confirmed her Instagram post related to the Blonde Ambition script

 

Penned by first-time writer Elyse Hollander, Blonde Ambition topped last year's Black List, Hollywood's annual chart of the best unproduced screenplays.

 

The list has previously featured future Oscar-winners such as Spotlight, The Revenant, Argo and American Hustle - so it's no surprise that Universal nabbed the rights.

 

Two major producers have already been attached to the project, Michael De Luca (The Social Network) and Brett Ratner (X-Men), who himself directed Madonna's Beautiful Stranger video in 1999.

 

However, it's clear that the project doesn't have the star's approval.

 

In theory, that's not a barrier to the film getting made, but the script relies heavily on Madonna's music, including Like A Virgin, Everybody and Lucky Star.

 

If the singer vetoes their use, the project would essentially be dead in the water.

 

But how inaccurate is Hollander's script?

 

We read a publicly available draft to see how closely it stuck to Madonna's story.

 

While the arc is broadly true, Hollander compresses and condenses events, even creating composite characters to keep up the momentum.

 

Here's what's true, and what isn't.

 

True: Madonna was in a band called The Emmys

The singer was in several bands before hitting the big time as a solo artist

The first act of the script focuses on Madonna's pre-fame band The Emmys, which she formed with her boyfriend Dan Gilroy and childhood friend Stephen Bray, who went on to co-write Into The Groove, Express Yourself and True Blue.

Their name derived from Madonna's childhood nickname, and video footage of their scrappy garage tunes can easily be found online.

The film insists the group were a cheap knock-off of new wave pop band Blondie, but their sound was more indebted to Britain's ska and 2 Tone scenes.

Madonna can even be heard adopting a British accent in some of their early demos.

 

False: The Emmys were erased from history

The singer paid tribute to her bandmates in later years

One of the script's biggest fabrications was that Madonna and The Emmys had a deal with Sire Records and cut an entire album before Madonna took the songs, erased Dan's vocals and launched herself as a solo artist.

In reality, the band never got beyond making demo tapes; and many of the songs attributed to them in the film - including Borderline and Lucky Star - were written much later.

Madonna even paid tribute to Dan Gilroy when she was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008.

"He lived in an abandoned synagogue in Queens," she recalled, "and he taught me how to play guitar.

"I practised those four chords that Dan taught me over and over and over again."

 

Partially true: Madonna worked in a Russian tea room

At the start of Blonde Ambition, Madonna is seen waiting tables at New York's prestigious Russian Tea Room.

While the star did work at the venue for two months, she was stationed in the cloakroom, and eventually let go for failing to adhere to the dress code.

"She was a hard worker, conscientious," said restaurant manager Gregory Camillucci in 1991.

"I got the impression that the one meal we fed her was the only food she was getting."

 

True: She dated her producer, Jellybean Benitez

Blonde Ambition's biggest sub-plot is Madonna's romance with dance producer John "Jellybean" Benitez, who produced her breakthrough single, Holiday, and remixed others, including Material Girl, Like A Virgin and Dress You Up.

They first met at the influential New York club Fun House, where, according to one observer, Madonna "walked right up to the DJ booth, grabbed him and kissed him".

After that, they dated for two years, during which time Madonna's career exploded - leading to inevitable tensions and the eventual breakdown of their relationship.

However, it's unlikely that their courtship included the sort of "romantic" dialogue Hollander provides in her script.

"You're the first Latin DJ to break out of genre in a heavily white industry and I'm a driven woman in [an] all boys club," says Madonna during one encounter. "We're both outsiders but I'm willing to work the system from within. Are you?"

 

True: (Most of) the things she said

Many of the quotes come from archive interviews with the singer

Throughout the script, entire lines of dialogue are lifted verbatim from Madonna's interviews, including the pivotal quote: "It never occurred to me to get into this business and not be a huge success. I wanted the world to notice me, always have."

In fact, Hollander's reliance on archive clips caught Madonna out during her Instagram rant.

As an example of the script's inaccuracies, the singer singled out a line of dialogue on the first page, in which Madonna tells US TV personality Dick Clark: "I was born in Detroit. I'm a famed high school dropout."

"I was born in Bay City, not Detroit. And I did not drop out of high school. In fact, I went to University of Michigan," Madonna said.

But the interview Hollander quotes is available on YouTube - which might explain why Madonna later deleted her comments.

However, some of her quotes have been placed in a new context.

On page 58 of the script, Madonna tells Jellybean: "I always knew I was going to be a nun or a star. Spending six months in a convent cured me of the first one."

This superb (and untrue) piece of hyperbole actually comes from a handwritten letter Madonna sent to film director Stephen Lewicki, requesting an audition for his movie A Certain Sacrifice.

 

Partially true: She signed her record deal in hospital

One of the most well-worn Madonna stories is that Seymour Stein signed her to Sire Records in hospital, hours after having heart surgery.

In the script, this is all at Madonna's behest. So desperate is she to sign the deal that she frog-marches to his ward and practically puts the pen in his hand.

But Stein insists hewas the one who summoned Madonna to him.

"I was caught with dirty pyjamas with a slit up the back of my gown," he told Rolling Stone.

""I needed a shave and a shower. But I got it together to meet with her.

"When she walked in the room, I could tell she wouldn't have cared if I was like Sarah Bernhardt lying in a coffin.

"All she cared about was that one of my arms moved, that I could sign a contract.

"What I saw there was even more important than the one song I heard.

"I saw a young woman who was so determined to be a star."

 

Uncertain: The abortion

Madonna later tackled the subject of abortion in Papa Don't Preach

In Blonde Ambition's final scene, backstage at the 1984 MTV Awards, Madonna coldly informs Jellybean that she has aborted their child.

"I won't have to choose between my career and a family now," she says, not even deigning to make eye contact. "And that's how I want it."

Madonna has never suggested she was pregnant in 1984, and Hollander's claim would appear to be based on Christopher Andersen's salacious 1992 biography Madonna: Unauthorized (you can read an excerpt here).

However, Madonnahas spoken about having an abortion during the early years of her career on several occasions.

"You always have regrets when you make those kind of decisions," she told Times Magazine in 1996, "but you have to look at your lifestyle and ask, 'Am I at a place in my life where I can devote a lot of time to being the really good parent I want to be?'

"I think you have to be mentally prepared for it. If you're not, you're only doing the world a disservice by bringing up a child you don't want."

(A group of New York Film Students have filmed Blonde Ambition's final scene, should you be interested in watching an am-dram version of the movie).

 

True: The feud with Cher

Cher and Madonna have traded barbed words for the past 30 years

"I think Madonna's vulgar and tacky," says Cher on the 83rd page of Blonde Ambition. "She's a flash in the pan at best."

Amazing though it may seem, the quote is real.

Madonna even responded to the comment in a 1984 interview with her future biographer J Randy Taborelli, saying: "Who knows tacky better than Cher?"

 

False: Madonna auditioned songwriters in a swimming pool

Holiday was Madonna's breakout hit, and the UK's introduction to the future Queen of Pop

Half-way through Blonde Ambition, Madonna is desperately seeking a final song to complete her debut album. So she and Jellybean hold an open audition in an indoor swimming pool at the YMCA.

After a montage of dismal musicians playing dismal songs, funk duo Pure Energy walk through the double doors.

Singer Lisa Stevens and bassist Curtis Hudson (bizarrely renamed Richard Curtis in Hollander's script) nervously set up their instruments before playing what will become Madonna's signature song, Holiday.

Great story - but it never happened.

The band originally submitted a cassette demo of the song to Mary Wilson, of The Supremes.

When she rejected it, Holiday was passed on to Jellybean, who presented it to Madonna.

"The song still generates money," Curtis told blogcritics in 2006 .

"Can you live off of one hit? Yes, you can if you get the right hit. It can last you a lifetime. We've been living proof of that. If we did nothing else, the royalties from Holiday could support us."

 

True: She fell over at the 1984 MTV Awards

Madonna's most public mishap came at the 2015 Brit Awards, when she was yanked off stage by a cape.

 

But it had happened once before - at the first MTV Awards in 1984, when she lost a stiletto while walking down a 17ft (5m) tall wedding cake in her wedding dress (it could happen to anyone).

Although the incident plays a pivotal part in Blonde Ambition - has she lost the baby? - it was never as serious as the script makes out.

"I thought, 'Well, I'll just pretend I meant to do this,'" Madonna later said. "So I dove on the floor and I rolled around. And, as I reached for the shoe, the dress went up. And [my] underpants were showing."

 

The stumble-flash made television history and propelled Madonna to even greater heights. And that's where the film drops the curtain.

line break

[Independent Thinker 160]

On the Dick Clark interview she actually said "I was born in Detroit" and "I'm a famed high school drop out so don't believe anything they tell you" so thats why the script says that. I haven't read it all. I wonder what else she objects to specifically in the script. But honestly its not really a lie if she kinda said those things, its just a mistake.

This is one of the reasons I don't think Madonna should be on social media. I get that she has a right to say what she wants. I'm not trying to deny or remove that right. However, when you're a legend, there are certain things you just don't do. And criticizing a planned biopic on yourself via social media is one of them.

 

Let me tell you how this should've been handled:

 

Madonna's publicist Liz Rosenberg releases a witty statement to the press dissing the film. End of discussion. Never a peep publicly from Madonna about it. 

 

That's how legends handle shit. Madonna is too much of an icon for us to hear from her every day on Instagram. She needs to realize that the best way to rise above mess like this is to ignore it. 

 

I miss the days pre-2012 when Madonna was absent from social media. To me, that was a much classier way to handle herself.

[Fighter 28,797]

I used to think that way a bit but honestly she's gotten way better and more fun on social media and more direct with fans. A few years back I didnt want her to be on social media like this but now I like it, nowadays it makes me smile a lot, and it would be weird if she didnt have it at this point.

 

btw didnt liz retire? 

 

Honestly she made an innocent mistake its not that bad. It made for funny articles. 

[Guest ArthurBadin]

Don't know if it's just pointless to say here on Infinity but even Savage's infos about Emmy and the Emmies are not accurate as we all M stans know Gilroy's band had always been named (and still is, check out their very fresh Percolade album on iTunes, a partnership with Bray - the irony) "The Breakfast Club". We all also know that Emmy was a latter band, driven by Madonna herself (instead of Gilroy Bros.) with the only thing in common between TBC and EATE were her, the genre of music and Bray (it's from that time Burning Up was written and first played, however we still miss a leaked demo from that time - all we can get so far is Pre-Madonna released version).

The funny thing is that Innocence Lost paid dust to EATE's time (as well as pre-EATE time when she wrote by herself all lyrics and music from her songs, just on guitar, without Bray or anyone else by her side), coming right to Barbone's management which dissolved EATE for ever.

[Guest ArthurBadin]

This is one of the reasons I don't think Madonna should be on social media. I get that she has a right to say what she wants. I'm not trying to deny or remove that right. However, when you're a legend, there are certain things you just don't do. And criticizing a planned biopic on yourself via social media is one of them.

 

Let me tell you how this should've been handled:

 

Madonna's publicist Liz Rosenberg releases a witty statement to the press dissing the film. End of discussion. Never a peep publicly from Madonna about it. 

 

That's how legends handle shit. Madonna is too much of an icon for us to hear from her every day on Instagram. She needs to realize that the best way to rise above mess like this is to ignore it. 

 

I miss the days pre-2012 when Madonna was absent from social media. To me, that was a much classier way to handle herself.

Liz retired herself from her work a few years ago, but she touches her former "babies" (as she calls them), such as M and Cher, sometimes.

 

IG was obviously a Guy-O idea. Anything else to be said?

She was clearly fascinated by Oseary's own social networks during MDNA Tour rehearsals and decided to get her own accounts.

After that, she became constantly reason for joking around by everyone outside M's world. And even sometimes inside it.

Don't how to judge that behaviour since she was always before that a very private public person, showing herself only through her art, but as for now her Instagram, as someone on FOTP said, is just like Cher's Twitter feed: when you're not laughing your a** off, at least you give a smile - and everything seems to be better with the poor mortal who reads it.