Studiocanal has released a first look at the Sam Taylor-Johnson directed Amy Winehouse biopic, which begins shooting this week.
Some 12 years after her tragic and untimely death, interest in musical phenomenon Amy Winehouse remains high, so it was never going to be too difficult for Studiocanal to find global distribution for its upcoming biopic of the late star, directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson.
With shooting set to begin in London today, Studiocanal has announced that it has entered into a distribution deal with Focus Features and Monumental Pictures to secure the film a global release. According to Deadline, 'Focus will distribute the pic in the U.S., with Universal Pictures International handling international distribution excluding the UK, France, Germany, Australia/New Zealand, Benelux, Scandinavia and Poland’ which will be handled by Studiocanal itself.
The project was officially announced in the summer and naturally, interest has been high regarding who would play the role of Winehouse. Industry star Marisa Abela won the role and you can see the first image of her as Winehouse at the top of this article.
There have been a couple of previous attempts to get an Amy Winehouse biopic off the ground with this version being the first to come to fruition. Asif Kapadia’s standout 2015 documentary, Amy remains a moving and revealing take on the singer’s life and career, and a watermark that’s going to be hard to top.
Taylor-Johnson has spoken about her inspiration for the film and her connection to Winehouse’s music, stating: “my connection to Amy began when I left college and was hanging out in the creatively diverse London borough of Camden”.
“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. 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’… she was genius. As a filmmaker you can’t really ask for more. I feel excited and humbled to have this opportunity to realise Amy’s beautifully unique and tragic story to cinema accompanied by the most important part of her legacy – her music. I am fully aware of the responsibility, with my writing collaborator – Matt Greenhalgh – I will create a movie that we will all love and cherish forever. Just like we do Amy”.
There’s no release date set for this project but we’ll let you know as we hear more.
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