With two studios running point for the rock biopic, “Back To Black,” Studio Canal in the U.K., and Focus Features in the U.S., you essentially get two kicks at the promotion can. From director Sam Taylor-Johnson (“Fifty Shades Of Grey”), “Back To Black” is a biopic of the late pioneering blues and soul R&B artist Amy Winehouse, who became a smash sensation globally in the early aughts.

Continue reading ‘Back To Black’ Trailer: Marisa Abela Channels Late Crooner Amy Winehouse On May 17 at The Playlist.

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.

Continue reading ‘Back To Black’ U.S. Trailer: Amy Winehouse Biopic Arrives May 17 at The Playlist.

If you look at it on paper, “50 Shades of Grey” was a massive hit. The film earned $571 million worldwide, off of a budget of only $40 million. Studios would kill for that type of success. You can see why the sequels were quickly made (they earned $381 million and $372 million worldwide, respectively). But box office doesn’t always translate to acclaim. And in the case of “50 Shades of Grey,” there was no denying the reviews didn’t match up to the box office receipts.

Continue reading Jamie Dornan “Hid” After ‘50 Shades Of Grey’ Reviews Came Out & Dreaded The “Damnation To Come” With The Sequels at The Playlist.

Ever since the back-to-back hits of “Straight Out Of Compton” (NWA) and “Bohemian Rhapsody” (Queen) and its Oscar success, rock biopics have had something of a big renaissance in recent years. While nothing has touched the heights of those two, not the Elton John film, “Rocketman,” and the upcoming “Bob Marley: One Love” doesn’t look like it’ll change the game in any major way, either way, Hollywood still keeps on trying.

Continue reading ‘Back To Black’ U.K. Trailer: Breakout Star Marisa Abela Plays Amy Winehouse In New Biopic at The Playlist.

Well, it’s official: “Industry” star Marisa Abela plays Amy Winehouse in Sam Taylor-Johnson‘s upcoming biopic “Back To Black.” The long-gestating project finally enters production on January 16 in London. The film traces Winehouse’s rise to fame in London in the early ’00s, when she and Taylor-Johnson first met and became friends in Camden’s High Street scene.  

READ MORE: ‘Back To Black’: ‘Industry’ Star Marisa Abela Emerges As Frontrunner To Play Amy Winehouse In Biopic

Taylor-Johnson has had the project in mind for a while, but Abela emerged as the frontrunner for the Winehouse role only last summer.

Continue reading ‘Back To Black’ First Look: Check Out Marisa Abela As Amy Winehouse As Sam Taylor-Johnson’s Biopic Start Shooting Next Week at The Playlist.

Continue reading ‘Back To Black’: ‘Industry’ Star Marisa Abela Emerges As Frontrunner To Play Amy Winehouse In Biopic at The Playlist.

READ MORE: Dakota Johnson Talks “Crazy” ’50 Shades’ Drama & Says She “Signed Up To Do A Very Different Version” Of The Film

According to Deadline, filmmaker Sam Taylor-Johnson has signed on to direct “Back to Black,” an adaptation of the life and career of Amy Winehouse.

Continue reading ‘Back To Black’: Sam Taylor-Johnson To Direct The Amy Winehouse Biopic at The Playlist.

Amazon’s new anthology series, “Solos,” is simple in that it explores human connection. “A lot of the inspiration for [it] came from things I’m not allowed to do as a writer,” creator David Weil (“Hunters“) told EW recently. “In film and television, you’re really not allowed to have a 30-minute monologue, though I would love to in every episode of something I write.”

READ MORE: Summer TV Preview: Over 40 Series To Watch

But perhaps the biggest draw is the cast.

Continue reading ‘Solos’ Trailer: Anne Hathaway, Anthony Mackie, Dan Stevens & More Star In Amazon’s New “Human Connection” Anthology Series at The Playlist.

Sam Taylor-Johnson has assembled an impressive cast for her next feature film, “Rothko,” which is set in the art world. The ensemble cast includes Russell Crowe, as well as Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Michael Stuhlbarg, Aisling Franciosi, and Jared Harris.

READ MORE: ‘Limbo’: Alejandro González Iñárritu Next Film Features Cinematographer Darius Khondji & ‘Zama’ Star Daniel Giménez Cacho

The film is written by Lara Wood, and is adapted from the book “The Legacy of Mark Rothko” by Lee Seldes.

Continue reading ‘Rothko’: Russell Crowe, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Michael Stuhlbarg Join Ensemble Cast For Art World Drama at The Playlist.

Los Angeles-based musician Micael Milosh, aka Rhye, has announced his new album, titled Home, which is set to drop early next year. Alongside the album announcement, Rhye has released the lead single “Black Rain” and an accompanying music video that stars actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson whom many will recognize from “Kick-Ass,” “Nocturnal Animals,” “The Avengers,” and Gareth Edwards’s 2014 “Godzilla.”

READ MORE: NSFW: Margaret Qualley & Shia LaBeouf Star In Short-Film Music Video “Love Me Like You Hate Me” For Rainsford

The “Black Rain” music video is directed by British filmmaker Sam Taylor-Johnson (known for “Nowhere Boy,” “Fifty Shades of Grey,” The Weeknd’s “Earned It”) who is also married to Aaron Taylor-Johnson.

Continue reading Aaron Taylor-Johnson Stars In New Rhye Music Video Directed By Sam Taylor-Johnson at The Playlist.

There’s a lot of drama surrounding the upcoming film “A Million Little Pieces,” and hardly any of it has to do with the actual film. Most of the intrigue revolving around the project has to do with the backstory of the inspiration for the film, author James Frey, who released a book of the same name and was quickly outed for making up stories and changing facts about his life story for the novel.

Continue reading ‘A Million Little Pieces’ Red Band Trailer: Aaron Taylor-Johnson Stars In The Adaptation Of The Controversial Best-Selling Novel at The Playlist.

After taking the last decade off to let its controversy die down, “A Million Little Pieces” is back: in movie form. That’s right, Oprah Winfrey’s favorite punching bag has returned after a long layoff, hoping that the patina of its fabricated “True Story” claim has faded with time. James Frey made a lot of waves in 2006 when the juicier bits of his memoir could not be substantiated, leading to his admission that many of the particulars had just been invented out of whole cloth.

Continue reading ‘A Million Little Pieces’ Trailer: Aaron Taylor-Johnson Stars In The Adaptation Of The Controversial Memoir at The Playlist.

TORONTO – Do you remember James Frey’s 2003 novel “A Million Little Pieces”? The best-selling memoir that turned out not to actually be one? When pressed about it on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in 2005, Frey claimed his 2003 novel was a factual account of his life as an addict and time in rehab. After an investigation by The Smoking Gun was released three months later it turned out much of it was not.

Continue reading ‘A Million Little Pieces’: James Frey’s Lies Are Even More Apparent [TIFF Review] at The Playlist.

The Bingeworthy Breakdown is an occasional look at new and returning TV shows. An estimated 500 seasons of scripted TV will air in 2017, and we’re here to help you sort the must-sees from the can-skips, because life is way too short, and Peak TV way too crowded, for investing in a show you’re not going to love. This week, we explore Netflix’s “Gypsy,” starring Naomi Watts, which hit the streaming service on June 30th.

Continue reading ‘Gypsy’ With Naomi Watts Is A Lacklustre Soap Opera [Bingeworthy™ Breakdown] at The Playlist.

The stress of bringing a best-selling book to the big screen is already intense, but add an author who’s overzealously protective about their work and you have a recipe for conflict. There was no shortage of battles during the production of “Fifty Shades Of Grey,” with director Sam Taylor-Johnson admitting she got into “proper on-set barneys” with writer E.L. James. And screenwriter Kelly Marcel noted that the studio’s promise that she’d have creative flexibility were “utter bullshit,” adding that, “ultimately, Erika did have all of the control.” So, it’s not a big surprise that Taylor-Johnson has washed her hands of the erotica franchise.

Continue reading ‘Fifty Shades Of Grey’ Director Sam Taylor-Johnson Has “Literally Zero Interest” In The Sequels at The Playlist.

Before the month is out Netflix has yet another prestige piece of programming that’ll be ready for your binge-watching needs. But it’s one that seems a bit pulpier than recent fare like “Bloodline” and “House Of Cards.”

“Fifty Shades Of Grey” director Sam Taylor-Johnson brings some of the flavors of that erotica franchise over to “Gypsy,” which follows a Manhattan therapist whose methods across some seriously (and sexy!) ethical lines.

Continue reading Naomi Watts Is Overcome By Desire In New Trailer For Netflix’s ‘Gypsy’ at The Playlist.

“The worst lies are the ones we tell ourselves… ” is the tagline for “Gypsy” the new psychosexual thriller and mini-series starring Naomi Watts from Netflix.

“I find an identity crisis a fascinating subject,” Watts recently told EW, not unfamiliar to parts like these. “I grew up in a world where I was moving around a lot as a kid. When you physically move into a new environment, you have to reshape your identity in order to feel comfortable, so I think I understand that exploration of one’s identity.

Continue reading ‘Gypsy’: Naomi Watts Breaks The Rules In First Trailer For Netflix’s Psychological Thriller at The Playlist.

‘Fifty Shades Of Grey’ Director Sam Taylor-Johnson To Helm Netflix's Psychological Thriller Series ‘Gypsy’

Continue reading ‘Fifty Shades Of Grey’ Director Sam Taylor-Johnson To Helm Netflix’s Psychological Thriller Series ‘Gypsy’ at The Playlist.

The 20 Best Breakthrough Directors Of 2015

Continue reading The 20 Best Breakthrough Directors Of 2015 at The Playlist.

Director Sam Taylor-Johnson & Writer Kelly Marcel Won't Return For 'Fifty Shades Of Grey' Sequel

Continue reading Director Sam Taylor-Johnson & Writer Kelly Marcel Won’t Return For ‘Fifty Shades Of Grey’ Sequel at The Playlist.

Sex And The Split Personality Of 'Fifty Shades Of Grey'

Continue reading Sex And The Split Personality Of ‘Fifty Shades Of Grey’ at The Playlist.

“I Feel Like I Never Want To Make A Movie Again” Sam Taylor-Johnson Says About 'Fifty Shades' Sequel

Continue reading “I Feel Like I Never Want To Make A Movie Again” Sam Taylor-Johnson Says About ‘Fifty Shades’ Sequel at The Playlist.

No Discussions For Sam Taylor-Johnson To Direct 'Fifty Shades' Sequel, Plus More Controversy

Continue reading No Discussions For Sam Taylor-Johnson To Direct ‘Fifty Shades’ Sequel, Plus More Controversy at The Playlist.

Review: 'Fifty Shades Of Grey’ Starring Dakota Johnson & Jamie Dornan

Continue reading Review: ‘Fifty Shades Of Grey’ Starring Dakota Johnson & Jamie Dornan at The Playlist.

'Fifty Shades Of Grey' Author Gets Last Word On Film's Ending Plus New Clip, Vanessa Bayer's Parody & Lego Trailer

Continue reading ‘Fifty Shades Of Grey’ Author Gets Last Word On Film’s Ending Plus New Clip, Vanessa Bayer’s Parody & Lego Trailer at The Playlist.