A new biopic about Amy Winehouse is currently in production and slated for a 2024 release. Marisa Abela will play the legendary British singer in Back to Black.
The film, directed and executive produced by Sam Taylor-Johnson, is scheduled to hit theaters on April 12 in the UK, Pitchfork reported. A US release date will be announced soon.
'Back to Black,' a biopic about legendary singer Amy Winehouse, will be released in the UK on April 12, 2024.
Back to Black will cover the early days of Winehouse's career in London and her spectacular but jarring rise to fame in the early 2000s, according to a press release from production company Focus Features. The movie is named after the singer's second and final studio album, which was released five years before she died from alcohol poisoning in 2011. Winehouse is remembered for her songwriting skills and distinctive soulful voice, but her story is also a cautionary tale about the pitfalls of addiction, sudden fame and the paparazzi spotlight.
Taylor-Johnson, who was announced as the director last year, lived in the same neighborhood as the singer during the early 2000s.
"My connection to Amy began when I left college and was hanging out in the creatively diverse London borough of Camden," she said in the press release. "I got a job at the legendary KOKO CLUB, and I can still breathe every market stall, vintage shop and street… A few years later Amy wrote her searingly honest songs whilst living in Camden. Like with me, it became part of her DNA."
The director also spoke about witnessing one of Winehouse's earliest concerts in London.
"I first saw her perform at a talent show at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in Soho and it was immediately obvious she wasn’t just 'talent,'" Taylor-Johnson said. "She was genius. As a filmmaker you can’t really ask for more."
The Winehouse estate has been involved in the production of the film. Several of the singer's family members were reportedly unhappy with the way the star was portrayed in the Academy Award-winning 2015 documentary Amy.
"We are thrilled that STUDIOCANAL, Focus Features and Monumental are making this movie celebrating our daughter Amy’s extraordinary music legacy and showcasing her talent in the way that it deserves," the singer's estate said in a statement included in the press release.
The film, first announced in 2018, is slated for an April 12 release in Poland and an April 18 debut in Germany, the Netherlands and Australia. It will come out in New Zealand the following week.
The album Back to Black was certified platinum several times over and received broad critical acclaim. It rocketed to the top of the UK Albums Chart and made it to the No. 2 spot on the Billboard 200. The LP's lyrics were written in part about Winehouse's tumultuous on-and-off relationship with Blake Fielder-Civil.
Earlier this year, Abela was seen in costume on set kissing Jack O'Connell, who's playing Fielder-Civil. On a different occasion, photographers spotted the actress walking alongside Eddie Arsam, who's playing Winehouse's father Mitch. Abela has also appeared in the HBO series Industry and the Sky One series COBRA.
The singer is being played by Marisa Abela, pictured above with Eddie Arsam, who's playing Winehouse's father Mitch.
Sam Taylor-Johnson is directing the film.
The movie is named after Winehouse's second and final studio album 'Back to Black.'
Winehouse died from alcohol poisoning in 2011.
