I’m surprised it took this long for an Amy Winehouse biopic to happen, but the talented singer’s tragic life is about to become a feature film. The Wrap reports Kinky Boots writer Geoff Deane will pen the script, and exec-produce but no director has been named.
Certainly, no star has been named who will play Winehouse. I imagine that search will take quite some time, although you may recall Noomi Rapace was attached to play her in a different film back in 2015. Not quite sure what happened to that project.
Winehouse made an incredible impact on the music scene in 2003 and again in 2006 with her second and final studio album, “Back to Black” which won her five Grammy Awards. She was praised for her unique voice and mix of sounds, combining R&B, soul, and jazz. Unfortunately, her life was plagued by personal demons and in 2011 she was found dead due to alcohol poisoning. Many of her troubles were chronicled in the Oscar-winning 2015 documentary, Amy, which you should definitely check out if you haven’t already.
Amy father, Mitch, wasn’t portrayed in such a great light in that documentary, but he’s the guy handling her estate. He put this latest film deal in motion, and he has an idea of the kind of actress he’d want to see play Amy. He recently said at a Winehouse gala and captured by The Sun…
“We have been approached many times. [A biopic is] obviously something that we are going to do, 100 per cent. What we want is somebody to portray Amy in the way that she was… the funny, brilliant, charming and horrible person that she was. There’s no point really me making the film because I’m her dad. But to get the right people to do it, that’s very important, and we will.
If you’re thinking Lady Gaga seems like a natural fit given her singing ability and rave reviews for A Star is Born, well, Mitch would disagree…
“It wouldn’t be Lady Gaga. She doesn’t speak our kind of English. I wouldn’t mind betting it would be an unknown, young, English — London, Cockney — actress who looks a bit like Amy.”
Good luck on that search, buddy.
