The extraordinary story of Amy Winehouse—the supremely gifted singer-songwriter who went from being a rising star on London’s jazz scene to a six-time Grammy-winning, Halloween costume-inspiring celebrity earlier than passing away from alcohol poisoning on the age of 27—has already been advised in just a few completely different codecs. There was 2015’s Amy, Asif Kapadia’s sweeping Oscar-winning documentary; 2018’s Amy Winehouse: Again to Black, Jeremy Marre’s in-depth have a look at the making of the titular album; and 2021’s Marina Parker-helmed Reclaiming Amy, during which her family and friends replicate on her life and legacy. However now, the tragic story of her stratospheric rise and subsequent fall is getting the big-screen therapy in a significant new Hollywood biopic.

On July 11, 2022, Deadline broke the information that the movie, which has been within the works since 2018, would now be shifting ahead, with StudioCanal producing. Titled Again to Black, it would see Sam Taylor-Johnson, the BAFTA-nominated director behind Nowhere Boy and Fifty Shades of Gray, who was an in depth buddy of Winehouse’s, take the lead behind the digital camera. In the meantime, the script has been penned by Matt Greenhalgh, whose earlier credit embrace each Nowhere Boy, an account of John Lennon’s teenage years, and Management, which follows Pleasure Division’s Ian Curtis—a observe report which bodes nicely for the upcoming launch.

It’s additionally essential to notice that the movie is being made with the complete assist of the Amy Winehouse property, which incorporates the musician’s father, Mitch, who confronted criticism for his perceived position in his daughter’s downfall following the discharge of Kapadia’s documentary. This choice implies that Taylor-Johnson may have permission to delve into Winehouse’s sensational again catalogue, but in addition raises questions on how sympathetically her household may very well be portrayed. Will the biopic concentrate on the latter half of her profession and chart-topping second album, because the title suggests, or will it discover her childhood, too? And can it’s extra preoccupied along with her musical successes or her struggles with substance abuse and harmful relationships?

Nonetheless, the largest query was at all times: who on earth might play the tattooed, beehived, cat-eyed singer? The reply is Business star Marisa Abela, who’s dazzled critics and audiences along with her portrayal of the beguiling Yasmin in each seasons of the hit present. The 26-year-old can also be of Jewish heritage, a truth which was reportedly vital to the movie’s artistic group in an effort to be genuine to Winehouse’s personal background, and has singing expertise, regardless of this not being on present in her earlier onscreen components. On January 13, 2023, a putting first look of the actor in character, with Winehouse’s signature beehive, gold hoops, tattoos and piercings, was unveiled—and has set expectations sky excessive.