Earlier this week, A24 announced that the highly-anticipated Ronnie Spector biopic, starring Zendaya, will be directed by Barry Jenkins. The film, titled Be My Baby (of course), is based on Spector’s 1990 memoir Be My Baby: How I Survived Mascara, Miniskirts, and Madness, or, My Life as a Fabulous Ronette. The girl-group legend personally chose Zendaya to play her shortly before her death in 2022. “Thank you for sharing your life with me, I could listen to your stories for hours and hours,” Zendaya wrote in a tribute back then. “I hope I make you proud.”
There’s also the long-promised Janis Joplin film starring Shailene Woodley, as well as a Linda Ronstadt movie where the powerhouse vocalist will be played by Selena Gomez, and another in which Lizzo will play pioneering guitarist Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
The new Janis Joplin biopic is in the works. And this time it’s Shailene Woodley who’s attached to play the legendary singer and musician.
The project was revealed — oddly enough — in a press release issued by the California Film Commission announcing which movies and TV shows would receive its coveted tax credits. As such, the details are pretty scant. Woodley is set to star and produce, and the production company backing the film is Temple Hill Entertainment, which has done the Twilight movies, First Man, Smile, and more.
But there’s a lot we don’t know at the moment, including, arguably, the most crucial thing: Whether the Joplin estate is involved in the film, has sanctioned it, or will let the movie use Joplin’s music. Rolling Stone has reached out to the estate and Temple Hill for further details.
Even Woodley’s statement on the biopic seemed more about California than the actual movie: “California meant so much to Janis Joplin — from the stoops of San Francisco to the wooden walls of Sunset Sound, the state became the stage upon which she explored not just the world of music, but the world of her vibrant humanity,” she said. “Being a Los Angeles native myself, and having grown up working alongside industry locals, knowing our film will be created with some of the most gifted, passionate, and devotional people leaves me giddy. 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.”
Famously, the 1979 film The Rose began as a Joplin biopic called Pearl, but it was reconfigured after the Joplin family declined to grant the project the rights to the late musician’s story. For what it’s worth, The Rose probably represents the best case scenario for such a situation, with the film earning four Oscar nominations, including Best Actress for Bette Midler in her first movie role. For a possible worst case, never forget 30 Rock’s legendary “Jackie Jormp-Jomp” bit.
In the decades since The Rose, there have been numerous attempts at making a proper Joplin biopic, but all have fallen through. Woodley now joins a rather stacked list of actresses and musicians who’ve been slated, at one time or another, to play the Queen of Rock & Roll, including Amy Adams, Renée Zellweger, Zooey Deschanel, Brittany Murphy, Pink, Melissa Etheridge, and Nina Arianda.
