Today brings our first look at Back to Black, the upcoming Amy Winehouse biopic starring Industry actress Marisa Abela.
The image shows Abela, who also has a role in the Barbie movie starring Margot Robbie, rocking Winehouse’s signature beehive hairstyle.
On Instagram, the 26-year-old actress also shared a photo of herself standing in front of an Amy Winehouse mural in Camden Town, the North London neighbourhood where the iconic singer lived.
Along with the first-look photo, production company Focus Features has announced that Back to Black will begin filming in London this Monday (16th January). Sam Taylor-Johnson, who helmed the first Fifty Shades of Grey movie and the Netflix series Gypsy, is directing.
“My connection to Amy began when I left college and was hanging out in the creatively diverse London borough of Camden,” Taylor-Johnson said in a statement. “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,” Taylor-Johnson added. “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.”
Winehouse died from alcohol poisoning on 27th July, 2011 at the age of 27. Director Asif Kapadia made an Oscar-winning documentary about her life in 2015, but this is the first time her story has been told in a feature film.
According to the announcement, Back to Black will feature “many of Amy’s hit songs” and has the “full support” of the singer’s estate. Given that she’s been hailed as an influence by everyone from Adele to Billie Eilish – who said Winehouse “inspired a generation” – interest in the film will surely grow as its release date approaches.
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