Janis Joplin Biopic Officially In The Works
Stage actress Nina Arianda is gearing up to play the sixties rocker in the film to be helmed by Sean Durkin.
Attempts to kickstart a biopic on sixties rock icon, Janis Joplin, have been plagued by a decade of false starts, but according to Deadline, one looks to finally be in the works with production to commence early next year.
The film, simply named Joplin, is set to be helmed by relative newcomer, Sean Durkin, who received a swag of praise and acclaim for his debut feature, last year's Martha Marcy May Marlene.
And nabbing the lead role is stage actress Nina Arianda who has had small roles in films including Midnight In Paris, Win Win and Tower Heist, but is best known for her turns on Broadway having just won a Tony for Best Actress for her performance in the stage production, Venus In Fur.
The film - which has a reported budget of $20 million - will revisit the final six months of the singer's life with flashbacks to her early career. And its major trump card is that it has the rights to use 21 of Joplin's best-known songs.
Along with the music, Joplin's producer Peter Newman - who has been a backer of this project for a considerable time - also has secured rights to Love, Janis, a collection of letters from the singer that was published by her sister Laura Joplin; and the book Piece Of My Heart, which was penned by Rolling Stone reporter, David Daltron, who travelled with Joplin in the last six months of her life.
One's left to wonder whether this will be the final nail in the coffin for the long gestating and competing Janis Joplin projects, which actresses Amy Adams and Zooey Deschanel have been attached to.
Photo credit: Nina Arianda, courtesy of Getty Images/Mike Coppola.
