Watch the Official Trailer for Controversial New Amy Winehouse Biopic, ‘Back To Black’

New Amy Winehouse biopic Back To Black is set to hit Aussie cinemas on Thursday, 18th April and we’ve just copped our first official glimpse.

The teaser trailer has landed, showcasing Industry‘s Marisa Abela in full beehive and winged eyeliner in her starring portrayal of the titular Amy. The film will feature songs from across the late soul icon’s career, and comes bearing a seal of approval from the surviving Winehouse family.

‘BACK TO BLACK’ – International Teaser Trailer

Sam Taylor-Johnson directed the film based on a script from Martin Greenhalgh, marking their second collaboration after the John Lennon biopic, Nowhere Boy.

However, some fans online have criticised the director’s decision to cast Abela as Amy, calling into question the actress’s physical resemblance to the late icon, with many feeling like they overlooked a more obvious choice.

One person wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “I think Lady Gaga would suit her role as a singer and actress.”

While another agreed: “They finally made an amy winehouse movie n didn’t cast lady gaga??? what a crime.”

“The fact that Lady Gaga wasn’t cast to star as Amy Winehouse in her biopic is insane,” wrote a third.

But Taylor-Johnson has hit back, arguing that Abela was the perfect choice for the role.

“Discovering a talent like Marisa Abela is akin to finding gold dust,” he told Deadline. “The moment she looked into the lens at her first audition, I knew she was the perfect actor to play Amy Winehouse. She put in an enormous amount of work, attention to every detail and she trained daily for hours to be able to sing throughout the entire movie. She doesn’t impersonate Amy; she inhabits her.”

Produced by STUDIOCANAL and Monumental Pictures, the biopic delves into Winehouse’s personal and professional life, tracing her journey from her upbringing in north London to her meteoric rise to stardom, as well as her battles with fame and addiction.

In 2012, Mitch Winehouse, Amy’s father, expressed his openness to a biopic, emphasising the need for sensitivity in its portrayal. He stressed the importance of avoiding sensationalism while acknowledging Amy’s struggles with addiction, asserting that there was no need to gloss over her history of alcohol and drug dependency. 

The late singer was the subject of the Academy Award-winning documentary Amy in 2015, which her family criticised for being misleading and unbalanced. Even as recently as September 2021, the Winehouse family expressed their disapproval of another unauthorised biopic about Amy’s life, reportedly titled Saving Amy, which Halcyon Studios was developing.

You can peep the official teaser trailer for Back To Black up above.

Further Reading

Marisa Abela to Star in Amy Winehouse Biopic ‘Back to Black’

Love Letter To A Record: Stellie On Winehouse’s ‘Frank’

Amy Winehouse’s Estate ‘Slams’ New Biopic