No one can tell the story of Madonna better than Madonna.
The 62-year-old pop icon confirmed on Tuesday that she will direct her own biopic – or autobiopic – from a script she will co-write with Diablo Cody.
“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.
“The focus of this film will always be music. Music has kept me going and art has kept me alive. There are so many untold and inspiring stories and who better to tell it than me. It’s essential to share the roller coaster ride of my life with my voice and vision.”
Madonna made her directorial debut with the 2008 comedy Filth and Wisdom and, three years later, directed the historical drama W.E., which had its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
During an appearance last year on The Graham Norton Show in London, Madonna was asked who she thought would direct her life story.
“I will make mine. I will. I can,” she replied. “I would like to warn any director that thinks they’re going to make a biopic of me that there will be more mysterious deaths.”
An artist calling the shots on their own biopic is not completely unprecedented – comedian Richard Pryor directed and co-wrote 1986’s Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling, in which he played a character based on himself.