The first teaser photo for Back To Black, a new biopic based on the life of Amy Winehouse, has been released.
On Friday afternoon, it was confirmed that filming is set to begun on the project next week, with Marisa Abela in the lead role of the Grammy-winning musician.
Marisa previously appeared in the BBC drama Industry, and is also set to appear in the much-anticipated Barbie film later this year.
Sam Taylor-Johnson, who previously helmed the John Lennon biopic Nowhere Boy and the first film in the Fifty Shades Of Grey franchise, will direct Back To Black, named after the album that launched Amy to global stardom.
In an official statement, Sam said: “My connection to Amy began when I left college and was hanging out in the creatively diverse London borough of Camden. I got a job at the legendary Koko Club, and I can still breathe every market stall, vintage shop and street.
“A few years later Amy wrote her searingly honest songs whilst living in Camden. Like with me, it became part of her DNA.”
Sam continued: “I first saw [Amy] perform at a talent show at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in Soho and it was immediately obvious she wasn’t just ’talent’… she was genius. As a filmmaker you can’t really ask for more.
“I feel excited and humbled to have this opportunity to realise Amy’s beautifully unique and tragic story to cinema accompanied by the most important part of her legacy – her music.
“I am fully aware of the responsibility… I will create a movie that we will all love and cherish forever. Just like we do Amy.”
Meanwhile, production company Focus Features has noted that the film has the full blessing of Amy Winehouse’s estate.
Amy Winehouse shot to fame in the late 2000s, thanks to her unique style, her unbelievable voice, her straight-forward attitude and hits like Rehab, You Know I’m No Good and Tears Dry On Their Own.
Her issues with substance abuse were well-documented, and she died in 2011 at the age of 27, due to alcohol poisoning.