On 12.14.22 I had the scoop that Sam Taylor-Johnson’s Amy Winehouse biopic, “Back to Black,” was going to start production in January. Today, the trades were a month late, but, as they say, better late than never.
We do now know that Industry’s Marisa Abela will be playing Winehouse. European studio Studiocanal is backing the film, which has been a passion project for Taylor-Johnson, who was a close friend of Winehouse’s.
“Back to Black” has been written by Matt Greenhalgh, who previously collaborated with Taylor-Johnson on “Nowhere Boy” and also wrote “Control,” the critically acclaimed biopic about the late Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis.
Let’s just forget that Taylor-Johnson also directed 2015’s critically-maligned “Fifty Shades of Grey.” She has more or less disowned that film, citing the creative difficulties she had working with the novel’s author E. L. James.