The first-look image of Marisa Abela as late musician Amy Winehouse in the biopic Back to Black has been released.
The project, directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, is heading into production, with Focus Features and Monumental Pictures joining StudioCanal in backing the feature.
Matt Greenhalgh, who worked with Taylor-Johnson on Nowhere Boy, penned the screenplay, with the project receiving the backing of Universal Music Group, Sony Music Publishing and The Amy Winehouse Estate. Alison Owen and Debra Hayward of Monumental Pictures are producing, with Nicky Kentish-Barnes, Ron Halpern and Joe Naftalin executive producing.
According to today’s announcement, the project “will focus on Amy’s extraordinary genius, creativity and honesty that infused everything she did. A journey that took her from the craziness and color of 90’s Camden High Street to global adoration — and back again, Back to Black crashes through the looking glass of celebrity to watch this journey from behind the mirror, to see what Amy saw, to feel what she felt.”
The Grammy-winning singer is best known for her second album, Back to Black, which included chart-topping records “Rehab” and “You Know I’m No Good,” among others. The singer, who battled drug and alcohol addiction, died at age 27 from alcohol poisoning.
Taylor-Johnson says, “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.”
Focus will distribute in the U.S., with Universal Pictures International handling international distribution, excluding the UK, France, Germany, Aus/NZ, Benelux, Scandinavia and Poland which will be handled by StudioCanal.
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