LONDON: Pop superstar Madonna is returning to the director's chair to take charge of her second film - a drama based on the life of late British royal King Edward VIII.

The Material Girl made her moviemaking debut with 2008's Filth and Wisdom, which was panned by critics and flopped at the box office.

But Madonna is refusing to let the negative reviews put an early end to her career behind the camera - she has signed up to write and direct W.E., the real-life story of Edward VIII, who abdicated the throne in 1936 to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.

Up In The Air star Vera Farmiga has been linked to the role of Simpson, while the male lead is currently unknown, reports trade paper Daily Variety