A New Amy Winehouse Biopic Was Just Announced, But Mitch Winehouse Says It’ll Never Happen

It’s been just over ten years since Amy Winehouse died of alcohol poisoning at age 27. A fact that makes me feel equal parts old and sad. Earlier this week Halycon Studios announced that they’re working on a biopic about Amy, based on Daphne Barak’s 2010 book Saving Amy. Daphne spent six months filming and interviewing Amy in the last three years of her life. Daphne amassed over forty hours of footage, which she used to write her book. But after Halycon and Daphne made their biopic plans public, Amy’s dad, Mitch Winehouse, called up TMZ (he still has them on speed dial!) and told them there’s no way it’ll ever get made cuz it’s “100% not allowed.” Mitch says that Amy’s estate (he’s the administrator) has plans for their own biopic and they own all the rights. All of them! And they’re gonna be the ones to squeeze every penny outta honor Amy’s legacy!

Mitch says Halycon Studios needs permission from Amy’s estate to make the movie because they control her image. He claims that they haven’t reached out to him, nor have they reached out to Amy’s label, Universal, to ask to use any of her music. Uhhh, like that stopped the Jenna Maroney as Janis Joplin biopic?!

But Daphne Barak insists that she’s allowed to make this movie. She says the Halycon biopic isn’t technically a biopic, rather her story is based on her footage. She says, via TMZ:

“I have all of the releases and legal agreements needed. Just like the NFTs being marketed on OG2D, this material is also all legally my property to sell.”

Oh no, not NFTs! My brain doesn’t understand those! And maybe Mitch doesn’t either since he seems pretty damn convinced Halycon won’t be able to make their movie. He also claims that an authorized Amy biopic is in the works with Universal, and their plan is to start filming next year.

TMZ asked their ol’ pal Mitch if he’ll take legal action against Daphne or Halycon, and he told them he doesn’t think it’ll get to that point, adding:

“They can’t be that stupid. Everyone knows proper licenses must be granted.”

There have been quite a few documentaries about Amy in the last decade, including the Oscar-nominated Amy (2015), which Mitch hated cuz he felt it made him out to be a villain. Hey, if the dirty ballet shoe fits…

I hope both biopics get made and released around the same time, a la Capote and Infamous, The Prestige and The Illusionist, and Deep Impact and Armageddon. In the estate-approved one, George Clooney will play dashing Father of the Year Mitch Winehouse, who just wants the media to leave his poor daughter alone so she can get sober! And in the Halycon movie the Mitch role will go to Gary Busey. Nuff said.

Pic: Wenn.com