Madonna will direct W.E., a biopic about the scandalous affair that led King Edward VIII to step down from the throne, Variety reports. The pop star’s project will tell the story of the king’s liaison with Wallis Simpson, whom he eventually left the crown behind to marry. Up in the Air‘s Vera Farmiga may play Simpson, an American socialite who divorced her second husband when, in 1936, Edward proposed to her after a two-year affair. Madonna is writing the script with her Truth or Dare director, Alek Keshishian. The film will mark Madonna’s second directorial effort after 2008′s Filth and Wisdom.
Feb 14
2010
03:13 PM ET
Madonna planning to direct Edward VIII biopic
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Simpson or Sampson? are these typos? come on ew.com, do better.
It’s Entertainment Weekly–they obsess over Twilight so the magazine’s probably run by 12year olds.
Jane with this frustrating economic reality you have provided me with something I desperately need to maintain my sanity. A good laugh. Well done.
Jeez…you think they would spend an extra second to verify the correct spelling. Simpson! This is a intresting story but why is Madonna attached to this? I guess as long as she isn’t actually in it, but still.
Hmmm….in her old age now Madonna wants to be a director? Could that be a ruboff from being married to a director?
Vera Farmiga is great casting, but I worry about Madonna writing anything.
Hmph.
One would think that Madonna needs to prove herself in actually making money on a movie she’s “starred in” before trying to direct one.
The economy is bad? Somebody doesn’t seem to mind burning money on this sure-fire failure.
Desperately Seeking Susan, Dick Tracy, A League of Their Own, and Evita all made money. I think that Nicole Kidman and other stars have technically had worse track records than Madonna.
Sure-fire failure? Moron get a life!!!
Sorry.
I guess you’ll be buying several million dollars worth of tickets to make this a hit?
Sophia Coppola came to mind when I read your post. She was a terrible actress (godfather III)but she’s proven to be a talented director. The movie Madonna directed was a documentary and those rarely make any money. The story of King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson is an interesting one and the result of his abdication gave England Queen Elizabeth II, I’m going to give this a chance.
D.W. Griffith was a bad actor as well, but is considered one of the greatest film directors of all time. Just saying.
i hope she plays the king
She’s directed before? I think I’ll pass on this. Their story lost all of its romance when I learned he had Nazi sympathies. From what I understand that also played into his resigning. The government was more than happy to see him go.
It would be a shame if the movie was limited to the “romantic” scandal without painting a complete picture of their beliefs. Then again, it IS Madonna, and she’ll do whatever she wants to do. It would be nice if they used a professional director.
It’s not quite true that the government was happy to see him go, but his wife’s Nazi sympathies are true enough.
His name is Alek Keshishian, not Alex.
It’s better than Jay-Z producing a film. “Beyonce is….” will be the title of EVERY FILM. I’d see a GaGa/Britney film in the vein of “Moulin Rouge.”
Please do not associate Lady GaGa with anything of Brit-Brit… they are worldly different in levels of talent.
Does the rest of the world know that GaGa and Britney are both pop princesses?
Madonna is actually a pretty good director. I’m not really a Madonna fan but judging from “Filth & Wisdom”, her directorial debut, I’m sure her new movie will be good. “Filth & Wisdom” was a pretty good and entertaining movie. I don’t understand why so many people have such negative feelings towards Madonna, if you don’t care for her then so be it…no need for name calling and the sort. You guys really shouldnt believe everything you read online about celebs…most of the stuff is pure garbage and lies.
Interesting. Madonna’s Filth And Wisdom was a weirdly fascinating experiment that was miles better than anyone had any reason to believe it would be, so I will give this a chance. At least with her acting, she has given us plenty of reason to expect turkeys, but as far as directing, she hasn’t done anything terrible yet, so I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt…
Vera, don’t ruin your career like this.
Please tell me April Fool’s day came early this year.
With Madonna attached, you can pretty much guarantee this will be a total joke of a movie.
Madonna’s film career hasn’t been all bad. She was fantastic in Evita. Good in Desperately Seeking Susan and A League of Their Own. Even ok in the maligned Swept Away. I haven’t seen Filth and Wisdom, so I’ll reserve judgement on her directing ability, but if I recall correctly, she has written several children’s books to fairly wide acclaim.
…and I’m SURE she did all of the writing.
She was horrible in “Evita”, draining all the life out of the role. And her children’s books were not widely acclaimed. She was, however, tolerable in “A League of Their Own”.
So, I bet you all thought Tom Ford, a fashion designer with even less film experience than Madonna, was totally bankable when it was announced that he was going to co-write and direct “A Single Man?” How about you check your disdain for a person at the door, and wait to judge the film on it’s merit?