Has Madonna managed to parlay an offhand comment into an Everest-size mountain of cold, hard cash?

Just weeks after the Big M expressed her reluctance to belt out her long-ago hits "Holiday" or "Like a Virgin" "unless someone paid me like $30 million or something," she's purportedly come close to her asking price.

The London Sun claims Madonna is nearing a deal that would net her an estimated $25 million to perform two shows in money-lined Dubai after her world tour winds down at the end of the year.

"Madonna is about to break another record by playing the most lucrative concert of her whole career -- or anyone's career for that matter," a snitch maintains to the tab. "The negotiations for the tour to stop in Dubai in November are being finalized and she will get $15 million for the one show only."

The additional $10 million would come from playing a private party thrown by a filthy-rich fan, adds the mole.

A rep for the hard-bodied, well-preserved pop icon didn't respond to our request for comment on the purported Dubai windfall.

Meanwhile, in other Madonna news, the hearing to finalize her adoption of 2-year-old David Banda has been pushed back until May 15, says Reuters.

Madonna and 2-year-old David Banda

The megastar reportedly requested the postponement from Malawi's High Court because of "business" commitments in the United States, presumably involving the promotion of her critically lauded new album, "Hard Candy," and the debut of her documentary on the African nation, "I Am Because We Are," which is set to premiere this week at the Tribeca Film Festival.

A few weeks ago, the government of Malawi recommended that the initially controversial adoption be given the go-ahead.

Speaking of Madonna's documentary, it contains footage of David before Madonna whisked him off to the lap of luxury, and she recalls their fateful first meeting during an interview with New York magazine.

"He was basically going to the bathroom on himself," she says. "Of course, next day you come back with a truckload of Pampers. It sounds corny, but he just has these big, bright, intelligent, so-aware eyes, and I felt a connection to him."

Madonna then draws a dubious parallel between the Malawian children living in desperate circumstances and one of the wealthiest stars in Hollywood as she expresses sympathy for Tom Cruise.

"I don't care if people worship turtles or frogs -- if they're good people, that's all I care about, and he is a good person," she insists of the "Dianetics" enthusiast, who turned out for her recent Raising Malawi fundraiser. "I think he gets a raw deal, just as I think the orphans in Malawi get a raw deal, just as I think a lot of marginalized people get a raw deal."

Next: Romance Report: Beyoncé & Jay, Kirsten & Ryan