Before Amy Winehouse tragically passed away age of 27, she released the good album Frank and the great album Back to Black, in the process leaving an indelible mark on the fashion and sounds of modern culture. Via The Hollywood Reporter, her life will be the subject of a new biopic from Halcyon Studios, to be based on Daphne Barak’s 2010 book Saving Amy.
Barak recorded 40 hours worth of footage of Winehouse in the three years preceding her death in 2011 — a period that saw Winehouse get booed off some of the world’s largest stages, as her drug use and alcohol addiction slowly destroyed her life.
In her reporting, Daphne Barak managed to chronicle parts of that slow slide towards oblivion. But as a chronicler of the stars, she is a somewhat infamous figure. “Barak is a prolific networker – at least, that’s the polite term,” The Guardian wrote in a review of Saving Amy.
Related Video
But even so, Barak provided insight into a notorious trip to St. Lucia, which was meant to involve songwriting but mostly led to heartbreak for everyone involved. The book is also noteworthy for several candid interviews with Winehouse’s parents Mitch and Janis as they fought to save their daughter from herself. Barak will serve as an executive producer on the new biopic.
“Our team is honored to be working on this project. Although her career was cut far too short, Amy was the voice of a generation and we look forward to telling her story in the most poignant way possible,” Halcyon Studio CEO David Ellender said in a statement.
It’s too early to announce a cast, although we know at least one interested party: Millie Bobby Brown. Although the 17-year-old actress is currently a decade too young, Brown announced late last year that playing Winehouse is one of her dream roles.
