Sam Taylor-Johnson has stepped in to take the helm of Back To Black, a biopic of Amy Winehouse’s life.
Sam Taylor-Johnson has been attached to direct a new Amy Winehouse biopic. Taylor-Johnson’s previous credits include Nowhere Boy and Fifty Shades of Grey.
Taylor-Johnson’s most recent directing credit is for Amazon’s Solos and she has also directed music videos for Elton John, R.E.M. and The Weeknd.
The film will be called Back To Black, named of course after one of the late singer’s biggest hits. The film, which has been in various stages of development since 2018, will be written by Matt Greenhalgh, who worked with Taylor-Johnson in Nowhere Boy, and will be co-produced by Studiocanal, Alison Owen, Debra Hayward and Tracey Seaward.
Winehouse died tragically in 2011 after a long battle with addiction. This isn’t the first time the North London singer’s story has been attempted to be brought on screen, but the results have been mixed.
Winehouse’s father, Mitch Winehouse, appeared in a BBC documentary about his daughter, Reclaiming Amy, in 2021, but was openly critical of Asif Kapadia’s critically-acclaimed documentary Amy.
Noomi Rapace was once attached to play Winehouse in a feature film, but the project never saw the light of day. Winehouse’s father has always been strongly against making his daughter’s life and death into entertainment, going as far as saying he will never allow her music to be used in a biopic, but that seems to have changed. Back To Black reportedly has the Winehouse estate’s permission and blessing.
There is still no news about casting or a release date, but we can likely expect those in the coming weeks.
