A Lady Gaga biopic: Too soon?

Lifetime is reportedly developing a made-for-TV movie based on the shock-pop superstar's inimitable life... even though she's only 25

Best Opinion:  Entertainment Weekly, Idolator, Cinema Blend

Lady Gaga may be at the height of her career, turning out hit singles at an enviable pace, but movie producers are already eyeing her (short) life story. According to Deadline, Lifetime is developing a TV biopic about Lady Gaga (aka Stefani Germanotta) titled Fame Monster: The Lady Gaga Story. Based on Maureen Callahan's 2010 book Poker Face: The Rise and Rise of Lady Gaga, the film will be about how the pop star rapidly transformed herself from a fringe performer in New York's Lower East Side burlesque scene into a global music sensation. But given that Gaga's career — let alone her life story — is far from over, is it too soon for a biopic?

Maybe… but we're all going to watch anyway: This may sound "like a failure before takeoff," says Erin Strecker at Entertainment Weekly, but don't be fooled. Sure, we can already see the "overcoming-obstacles montage" set to "nondescript pump-up" music." But at least half of Lifetime's ripped-from-the-headlines movies, like the recent William and Kate, tend to be "so bad it's good." Here's my admission: Even if it's melodramatic schlock, "I'd probably watch that movie."
"Lady Gaga Lifetime move: Please, God no!…(Okay, when will it air?)"

But this may be the most boring biopic ever: It seems strange to produce a biopic of a singer who is "still very much in her prime" and whose "story is nowhere near over," says Becky Bain at Idolator. It's even more peculiar that Lifetime would make a film without, as the release says, "her copyrighted later appearances and costumes." How will the channel be able to create an entire "movie's worth of events" without using the performances, songs, and outfits "that made her famous enough to get her own biopic" in the first place?
"Lady Gaga biopic for Lifetime in the works"

And don't get excited about who will play Gaga, either: The fact that the Mother Monster herself isn't involved in the movie is the biggest concern, says Katey Rich at Cinema Blend. When Lady Gaga is actually ready to put her own life story on film, "it's going to be way weirder and more interesting than a Lifetime movie." Worse, the "low-rent nature" of the Lifetime project will likely dissuade big-name actors from signing on. "I have a feeling [actress and singer] Hayden Panettiere might be waiting by her phone right now."
"Lady Gaga's life story will be a Lifetime original movie, but don't count on a big star for it"

 

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