The short life of Amy Winehouse is officially set to hit the big screen. As Variety reports, British director Sam Taylor-Johnson (Nowhere Boy, Fifty Shades Of Grey) will helm the project, with StudioCanal set to back the film.
A release date for the film has not been set, nor has the lead role been cast, but it’s expected that a “relative newcomer” will take on the role of Winehouse. Taylor-Johnson, who was a close friend of the late singer, previously directed the 2009 film Nowhere Boy, which depicts the formative years of The Beatles’ John Lennon.
Amy Winehouse – ‘Back To Black’
Amy Winehouse passed away in July 2011 at the age of 27. Alcohol poisoning was ultimately cited as her cause of death. Since her passing, numerous attempts have been made to immortalise Winehouse’s short yet prodigiously influential life and career.
In 2012, Winehouse’s father Mitch explained that he was open to the idea of a biopic, providing it was “done in good taste”. “We don’t want a sensationalised movie going out,” he explained, “but equally there’s no point in sort of massaging the fact that Amy was an alcoholic and drug addict; no point in pretending that didn’t happen.”
Three years later, the Academy Award-winning documentary, Amy, was criticised by Winehouse’s family for being “misleading” and containing “some basic untruths”. Despite this, in 2018 the family were reported to be executive producing a biopic on Winehouse’s life.
As recently as September 2021, the Winehouse family criticised a separate biopic on the singer’s life, with Halcyon Studios reportedly having planned to produce the unauthorised film, Saving Amy. Taylor-Johnson’s biopic, however, reportedly has the full support of the Winehouse family.
