Mitch Winehouse, the father of the late British singer/songwriter Amy Winehouse, has revealed that a biopic about his infamous daughter is in the works and that it is currently in the “script stage.”
During an appearance on the Morning After podcast last Sunday, the 69-year-old taxi-driver told host Paul Danan that the upcoming film would be his way of getting back at filmmaker Asif Kapadia for his supposedly “misleading” portrayal of his daughter in the 2015 Winehouse-based documentary Amy.
“We’ve got a lovely movie coming,” said the elder Winehouse, “and that’s how we’ll get our own back, by portraying Amy the way she was.”
On when he thinks the film will be released, Mitch said “in a year or two”, adding that the production team had “gone beyond (just) talks”, suggesting that it wouldn’t be a scrapped project.
When asked who he’d like to cast as his deceased daughter, Mitch revealed that he was in charge of the casting and that he would like to find an “unknown actress” from London, England.
“The casting will be … I get to choose, with recommendations from the producer, a star-maker,” he said.
Mitch added: “We’re gonna get an unknown actress — ideally a Jewish girl from north or east London — who looks a bit like Amy and talks like Amy (too).”
Additionally, Mitch suggested that a “lovely Broadway show” based on the Back to Black singer was in the works too.
Mitch was also behind the Amy Winehouse hologram tour that was originally set to take place in 2019, however, was postponed indefinitely as a result of “some unique challenges and sensitivities” — which were never revealed.
Joined by Base Hologram‘s CEO of production, Marty Tudor, Mitch announced the tour back in 2018 during the annual Amy Winehouse Foundation gala in London.
Mitch, however, was criticized heavily for allegedly “exploiting” his daughter’s legacy, with some saying he was only interested in making the highly controversial hologram tour a reality “for the money.”
After also receiving an influx of backlash from fans, Base Hologram made it clear that the “ambitious event” needed to be worked on delicately and in an extremely respectful manner.
“Base Hologram is committed to remembering Amy Winehouse and her legacy in the most celebratory and respectful way possible,” a spokesperson for the company tweeted in Feb. 2019.
Amy passed away on July 23, 2011, at the age of 27, due to accidental alcohol poisoning. She had a long history of substance abuse.
Throughout her career, she released only two studio albums: Frank (2003) and Back to Black (2006). They featured Winehouse classics, Rehab and Love is a Losing Game, among many others.
Her R&B/soul music earned her massive success worldwide. She won an abundance of awards, including five Grammys and a Brit Award for “Best British Female Solo Artist”.
You can hear Mitch’s two-part appearance on the Morning After podcast with Paul Danan via Apple Podcasts.