A biopic about the life and death of legendary singer Amy Winehouse has been given the green light. Winehouse’s family officially signed off on a film produced by Monumental Pictures’ Alison Owen and Debra Hayward.
Writers Kinky Boots and Geoff Deane will script Amy's life, and filming is set to begin in 2019. This isn’t the first time a biopic about Amy has been in the works, but up until this point, the late singer’s family felt “the time was not right,” according to the Guardian.
“We now feel able to celebrate Amy’s extraordinary life and talent,” her father Mitch Winehouse said in a statement. “And we know through the Amy Winehouse Foundation that the true story of her illness can help so many others who might be experiencing similar issues.”
Amy’s family will serve as executive producers on the film, which could be a problem. Mitch took issue with the 2015 documentary Amy by Asif Kapadia, because it painted him as a negligent and opportunist father. If Mitch uses this opportunity to save face, we could end up getting a watered down version of Amy and her father’s infamous relationship.
“We’re proud that Mitch Winehouse has entrusted us with the story of amazing Amy, an icon whose songs have provided the soundtrack to a generation,” Owen and Hayward said in a statement.
Money from the film will benefit The Amy Winehouse Foundation, an organization established following her death to help young people struggling with drug addiction.
We’ll have to wait and see who is cast in the starring role. It’s hard to imagine anyone giving Amy the justice she deserves, but a handful of good music biopics have been made over the years, and J Lo definitely shined in her role as Selena. It’ll also be interesting to see if the film incorporates cameos from Amy’s collaborators Mark Ronson, Yasiin Bey, Tony Bennett, and Salaam Remi.
“What we want is somebody to portray Amy in the way that she was...the funny, brilliant, charming and horrible person that she was,” Mitch told The Sun. “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.”
This news comes after The Winehouse family announced a possible Amy hologram tour. A new documentary, Amy Winehouse – Back to Black, is also being released in November.
