Preview:
- Shailene Woodley will play singer Janis Joplin in a new movie.
- She’s also producing the film.
- The biopic is benefitting from a $2.5 million tax credit handed out by California.
Given her albeit tragically short-lived but storied contribution to the world of music, it’s shocking that no-one has been able to bring a movie about Janis Joplin to screens yet.
Still, that isn’t stopping Shailene Woodley, who has plans to star in and produce exactly that.
Few details have emerged about who else is involved –– we don’t, for example, know who the writer or director are yet –– but production company Temple Hill is backing the film, which has now received $2.5 million in funding from the California Film and Television Tax Credit Program.
Who was Janis Joplin?
Joplin was a musical icon of the 1960s, known as much for her searing blues songwriting and powerful voice as she was for her turbulent rock-and-roll lifestyle. The powerhouse behind ‘Mercedes Benz’ and a variety of respected covers, she died of an overdose in 1970, aged 27, shocking the music world.
Her life has been brought to screens in a couple of TV movies, but so far, big screen attempts have all faltered (see below).
20072860Who else has tried to make a Janis Joplin biopic?
At this point, it might be easier and quicker to fill a list of who hasn’t tried to make a film about, or star as, Joplin.
‘Wayne’s World’ director Penelope Spheeris had first Pink attached in 2004 and then Zooey Deschanel in 2006, looking to get ‘The Gospel According To Janis’ into theaters ahead of an effort by Lakeshore Entertainment, which boasted of landing Renee Zellweger to star.
Sean Durkin, who most recently made ‘The Iron Claw’, took a stab at the idea back in 2012, with Tony winner Nina Arianda playing Janis, but nothing came of that one. Durkin popped back up again with an effort in 2016 that seemingly landed Michelle Williams to star, only for things to go very quiet once more.
You’ll forgive us, then, for not holding our breath until the movie is actually in theaters.
Related Article: Director Penelope Spheeris Talks 30th Anniversary of ‘Wayne’s World’
What did Shailene Woodley say about the new effort?
Woodley seems excited that her version of the story now has a boost for its funding.
Here’s her statement:
“I have a feeling Janis would be smiling ear to ear, zipping down the PCH in her psychedelic Porsche knowing her story is bringing opportunities and funding to the city and people that held so much significance to her. Thank you to the California Film Commission’s Film & Television Tax Credit Program — myself and the other producers on this project believe California is the only place to film a slice of Janis’s life with authenticity and truth — and we are so grateful to have received the green light to do so!”
Other Movies Similar to Untitled Janis Joplin Movie:
- ‘Sid and Nancy‘ (1986)
- ‘The Doors‘ (1991)
- ‘Ray‘ (2004)
- ‘Walk the Line‘ (2005)
- ‘I’m Not There‘ (2007)
- ‘Control‘ (2007)
- ‘Nowhere Boy‘ (2010)
- ‘The Runaways‘ (2010)
- ‘Get on Up‘ (2014)
- ‘Love & Mercy‘ (2015)
- ‘Bohemian Rhapsody‘ (2018)
- ‘Rocketman‘ (2019)
- ‘The Dirt‘ (2019)
- ‘Elvis‘ (2022)
- ‘Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody‘ (2022)
- ‘Weird: The Al Yankovic Story‘ (2022)
- ‘Maestro‘ (2023)
- ‘Bob Marley: One Love‘ (2024)
- ‘Back to Black‘ (2024)
- ‘Girl You Know It’s True‘ (2024)
