An upcoming Amy Winehouse biographical drama has found its leading lady.
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Actress Marisa Abela will take on the titular role and the feat of capturing the late songstress in film. Abela shared an Instagram post heralding the news and a peek of herself in Winehouse fashion. “And for London. This is for London. Cause Camden Town ain’t burnin down,” the actress captioned the post with a quote from the singer, adding, “I love you, Amy.”
See the post below.
The story of Winehouse has long awaited the silver screen treatment. A passion project of Fifty Shades of Grey director, Sam Taylor-Johnson, the biopic, titled Back To Black after the artist’s 2006 hit single and album of the same name, has been in the works for a while, having first been announced in 2018.
Filming is finally set to begin in London on Jan. 16. Variety shared the production news along with a first look at Abela as Winehouse.
“My connection to Amy began when I left college and was hanging out in the creatively diverse London borough of Camden,” Taylor-Johnson shared in a statement (via Rolling Stone). “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,” the director continued. “I feel excited and humbled to have this opportunity to realize Amy’s beautifully unique and tragic story to cinema accompanied by the most important part of her legacy—her music. I am fully aware of the responsibility, with my writing collaborator, Matt Greenhalgh, I will create a movie that we will all love and cherish forever. Just like we do Amy.”
Photo by Gary Miller/FilmMagic
