She’s been pegged to the ‘Back to Black’ production.
Sam Taylor-Johnson has been announced as the director of the upcoming authorised Amy Winehouse biopic.
The Fifty Shades of Grey director will take on the project, ‘Back to Black‘ and is expected to begin searching for the actress to take on the lead role within the next few weeks. Studiocanal are producing the biopic, while Matt Greenhalgh has written the script.
The film, which is being made with full support from the Amy Winehouse estate, including her father, Mitch Winehouse, has had a rather bumpy journey.
Amy Winehouse Biopic ‘Back To Black’ Moving Forward At Studiocanal With Sam Taylor-Johnson Directing https://t.co/fmPSLa72lD
— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) July 11, 2022
More than six years ago, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo actress, Noomi Rapace was in talks to play Amy Winehouse in the biopic, with a script by Kirsten Sheridan who was also set to direct.
But the news that Taylor-Johnson is to direct Back to Black hasn’t had an entirely positive reception. Some Amy Winehouse fans have voiced their objections loudly on Twitter.
we do not need an amy winehouse biopic and ESPECIALLY not with sam taylor johnson directing
— polly (@miIfmurphy) July 11, 2022
Underneath a tweet by Deadline magazine announcing the news, hundreds of comments have been left and it’s quite a mixed bag of thoughts. While some Twitter users voiced their excitement at the upcoming biopic and discuss who should play the iconic singer (spoiler: there are a lot hoping for Lady Gaga), others had something else to say.
One Twitter user wrote “we don’t want Sam. Stay away from Amy”, while another simply put “No thank you.”
That moment when you’re thoroughly excited to see them finally directing an Amy Winehouse biopic until you see the director 😑 https://t.co/qUyCtahNYH
— Femmephibian (@femmephibian) July 11, 2022
Back to Black will explore the life of Amy Winehouse and is expected to cover her journey as a budding singer from North London to becoming a global superstar with hits such as Rehab, Back to Black and Tears Dry.
Opinion on the biopic generally is also divided. While some have expressed delight on social media over the biopic, saying it’s been a long time coming, others are strongly against it, claiming that it is exploitative of a troubled soul and shouldn’t be made.
The biopic will not be the first feature length film about the iconic singer: in 2015, Asif Kapadia directed the critically acclaimed Amy documentary, which used archive footage and recordings of the multiple Grammy award winner from before stardom until her tragic death when she was just 27-years-old.
