Madonna planning career as film director, says brother

Madonna plans to launch a directing career to rival that of her estranged husband, her brother has said.

Christopher Ciccone said of his sister’s future: “Apparently she wants to be directing and that’s what she’ll be doing. Two directors in the family is never going to work.”

Pop queen Madonna, 50, made her directing debut with 'Filth And Wisdom', to mixed reviews, this year.

The star of 'Desperately Seeking Susan' and 'Evita' did not appear in the movie, a comedy about a Ukrainian gypsy, which she described as “essentially my way of putting myself through film school”.

Mr Ciccone also told broadcaster Five that he had seen Ritchie, 40, become more unhappy in the eight-year marriage.

Mr Ciccone, whose relationship with Madonna soured after he decided to write a book about her, also said he was certain his sister would settle in New York.

Madonna and Ritchie are said to be locked in a bitter dispute over where their children will live following their split.

The singer, who is on tour in the US, is said to be keen to move to the US with her three children while Ritchie wants to keep his two sons, David and Rocco, in London.

The Sherlock Holmes director has hired Stephen Cobb QC, Britain’s leading expert in divorce cases where children’s residence is in dispute.

Mr Ciccone said: “In the end, she’s a New Yorker and London is not New York. The English countryside is beautiful but there’s not enough going on for her.”

He said of the former couple’s nuptials in a castle in Scotland: “The wedding, the tone of the whole thing gives you a good idea of where the marriage was going. It was very scripted and very unpleasant and very big and I don’t think it was a good beginning.

“Frankly I thought it wouldn’t last. I thought it was an English thing she was going through.

“(Guy) was generally a miserable guy and he got worse. He became less and less happy as a person. I think because his career isn’t where he wants to be,” Mr Ciccone said.

“Her career continues up and it’s not going down whereas his career had dropped off and he has made a series of not very good movies.”

Madonna made a beeline for men who “pretended that they grew up in the street”, he said.

Mr Ciccone said: “I think one of the smartest things she did was to take her children out of Hollywood.”

'Madonna and Guy: Where Did It All Go Wrong?' will be broadcast tomorrow at 10pm on Five.