The rock biopic craze arguably ended before it really even had a chance to start. “Straight Outta Compton,” the NWA rap biopic, surprised at the box office in 2015, but the Queen biopic, “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which was nominated for several Academy Awards, including Best Picture and won Rami Malek the Best Actor Oscar in 2019 the year after it came out really lit the fuse on the trend. Many have come and gone since (including a failed Oscar campaign for the Elton John “Rocketman” film), but that certainly isn’t stopping studios from trying. Paramount has a Bob Marley film coming out later this month and at the top of the summer, Universal is releasing their long-awaited Amy Winehouse biopic, “Back To Black,” named after the singer’s second and final 2006 studio album.
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Winehouse’s rise and fall was rather meteoric and tumultuous, and she obviously tragically passed away in 2011 from alcohol poisoning, but the memory and power of her soulful music lives on, and that’s what “Back To Black” surely celebrates.
The film stars U.K. up-and-comer Marisa Abela as Amy Winehouse, and she did all her own singing for the film. Abela may be relatively unknown to U.S. audiences, but she’s a big breakout in the U.K., and keen North American audiences will know her from HBO’s very excellent “Industry” series, which is poised to take over for “Succession” now that that series is over.
The rest of the cast is filled out by Jack O’Connell, Eddie Marsan, and Lesley Manville. Sam Taylor-Johnson, known for “Nowhere Boy” and “Fifty Shades Of Grey,” directs
Here’s the official synopsis:
A behind-the-scenes glimpse into Amy Winehouse’s early rise to fame and the release of her groundbreaking studio album, Back to Black. Inspired by Amy’s deeply personal and honest lyrics, the film is an unapologetic look at the woman behind the phenomenon and the tumultuous relationship at the center of one of the most legendary albums of all time.
Focus Features will release “Back To Black” in theaters nationwide on Friday, May 17. Watch the new U.S. trailer below.
