Back To Black First Look Photo Reveals Marisa Abela As Amy Winehouse

What kind of society would we be if we didn't honor every multi-award-winning pop sensation with a musical biopic named after one of their most famous singles? A broken society, that's what kind! Luckily, in the vein of "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Rocketman," "Respect," and "Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody" comes "Back To Black," a feature film about the life of Amy Winehouse. The upcoming release from Focus Features and Monumental Pictures is officially moving forward and will begin filming next week, on January 16.

"Industry" breakout Marisa Abela will star as the Grammy-winning singer, in a film set to cover Winehouse's "vibrant years living in London in the early aughts and her intense journey to fame." Expect to hear many of Winehouse's hit songs in the film, as "Back To Black" is moving forward with the full support of Universal Music Group, Sony Music Publishing, and The Amy Winehouse Estate. This is often one of the more controversial aspects of these biopics: the feelings of the family and how they address the legacy of the stars they center. But in this case, the Winehouse estate has come out to say: "We are thrilled that STUDIOCANAL, Focus Features, and Monumental are making this movie celebrating our daughter Amy's extraordinary music legacy and showcasing her talent in the way that it deserves."

This does leave one question unanswered though: will Abela do the singing herself (a la Taron Egerton's sensational performance in "Rocketman") or lip-sync to Winehouse's vocals (like Rami Malek in "Bohemian Rhapsody")? The press release doesn't specify, but it does provide out first look at Abela's visual transformation for the film.

In our first look at the biopic, Marisa Abela wears Amy Winehouse's iconic beehive hairdo and dons some of her signature tattoos. They've certainly nailed the look but obviously, it'll take much more than that to do Winehouse's legacy justice. This marks the first fictional look at the beloved singer's life; though previous biopic plans were made, this is the first to follow through. She has been honored on the big screen in other ways though: in 2015, A24 released "Amy," the moving documentary that tells her life story through her own words. It went on to win the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Honoring Winehouse is not a responsibility that director and executive producer Sam Taylor-Johnson (of the "Fifty Shades of Gray" franchise) is taking lightly. In a statement, Taylor-Johson said:

"I first saw her perform at a talent show at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in Soho and it was immediately obvious she wasn't just 'talent'... she was genius. As a filmmaker you can't really ask for more. I feel excited and humbled to have this opportunity to realize Amy's beautifully unique and tragic story to cinema accompanied by the most important part of her legacy – her music. I am fully aware of the responsibility, with my writing collaborator – Matt Greenhalgh – I will create a movie that we will all love and cherish forever. Just like we do Amy."

The "Back To Black" script comes from "Nowhere Boy" and "Control" screenwriter Matt Greenhalgh and per Focus Features, will focus on "Amy's extraordinary genius, creativity and honesty that infused everything she did. A journey that took her from the craziness and colour of 90's Camden High Street to global adoration – and back again, BACK TO BLACK crashes through the looking glass of celebrity to watch this journey from behind the mirror, to see what Amy saw, to feel what she felt."