An Amy Winehouse movie based on the Rehab singer’s career has been dubbed ‘too soon’ after its teaser was published on Thursday.
The London-born singer and songwriter died in July 2011 at the age of 27, following a public fight with substance misuse, addiction, and mental illness.
During her all-too-brief pop career, Winehouse recorded two platinum-selling albums, the second of which, Back to Black, went 14x platinum.
Back to Black, directed by 50 Shades of Grey filmmaker Sam Taylor-Johnson, the wife of actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson, will now dramatise her life story on film.
Marisa Abela, 27, an actress best known for her role as Yasmin Kara-Hanani in the US drama Industry, will play Winehouse.
The film, releasing on April 12, features Jack O’Connell as Winehouse’s on-off spouse Blake Fielder, Lesley Manville as her grandmother Cynthia, and Eddie Marsan as Amy’s father Mitch.
However, admirers of the artist, whose life was also explored in the documentary Amy in 2015, have criticised the film of being made ‘too soon’ and are ‘wary’ of how the You Know I’m No Good singer would be depicted.
X user LiniBkk said, ‘I’m not sure about this one, it feels too soon,’ but added that the final shot of the trailer, which depicts an emotional Amy singing her titular song, left them ‘intrigued’.
Another potential viewer, user Tinted Who, said: ‘I mean, she sounds astonishingly like Amy, I’ll give props to that. However, I’m very wary about this film and how it’ll portray her nonetheless.’
One user, David, took a particularly hard line and called for people to boycott the film: ‘So sad how even after death, the media continues to exploit Amy. Don’t watch this s**t. Like this is another biopic being made to cash in on biopics like the David Bowie one.’
Fans of the film have already applauded Barbie actress Marisa’s similarity to Amy in costume, replete with her black beehive hairstyle and thick winged eyeliner.
The trailer features footage of Amy doing her first tiny performances, recording in the studio, visiting New York, and being pursued by paparazzi.
In response to concerns about the nature of the film, director Sam, 56, said: ‘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, with my writing collaborator — Matt Greenhalgh — I will create a movie that we will all love and cherish forever. Just like we do Amy.’
It is not the filmmaker’s first time directing a musician’s biography; her first big full-length picture, Nowhere Boy, which centred on John Lennon’s adolescent years, was released in 2009. It is also the location where she met her husband Aaron on set.