Madonna to direct film of her own life story

Pop icon Madonna has announced she will direct a film about her own life and career.

The star is also co-writing the movie with Diablo Cody, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of Juno and Young Adult.

The script is expected to chart her rise from Michigan, to the slums of New York City, to global superstardom - via songs such as Like A Virgin and Vogue.

The star said the film would focus on music, adding: "Music has kept me going and art has kept me alive."

The as-yet-untitled project will be Madonna's third as director after 2008's Filth and Wisdom and 2011's WE, which was based around King Edward VIII's affair with Wallis Simpson.

The latter film was panned by critics, and bombed at the box office, making just $2m (£1.5m) against a budget of $11m (£8.5m).

However, rock and pop biopics are in the middle of a purple patch, with huge successes for Elton John's Rocketman and the Freddie Mercury film Bohemian Rhapsody, for which Rami Malek earned an Oscar.

Madonna's entry to the genre will be made by Universal Pictures - which previously attracted the artist's anger by snapping up an unofficial script based on her life.

No casting or production timeline for the film has been announced, but the pop star has charted the early stages of scripting on her Instagram account.

In a Q&A with fans, she said the biopic would be about her "struggle as an artist trying to survive in a man's world," adding that the journey covers a range of emotions: "happy, sad, mad, crazy, good, bad and ugly".

She added that the plot would address her relationship with artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, the fallout from her controversial Like A Prayer video and her experience filming Evita.

"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, confirming her directorial role.

"It's essential to share the roller coaster ride of my life with my voice and vision."

"There are so many untold and inspiring stories and who better to tell it than me?"

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