Nick Cave and Warren Ellis Scored the Amy Winehouse 'Back to Black' Biopic

"Their sensibility as well as understanding of this story has led to a profoundly deep and moving film score," said director Sam Taylor-Johnson

Photo: Joel Ryan

BY Megan LaPierrePublished Feb 7, 2024

Sam Taylor-Johnson's Amy Winehouse biopic, Back to Black, got its first trailer last month. While we've been hearing about this film for years now, some notable new information about it just came to light: the movie — one of Exclaim!'s Most Anticipated Films of 2024 — is scored by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, Variety reports.

The publication shared the news alongside a photo of the pair in the studio with Taylor-Johnson earlier this week. “Nick and Warren were the only musicians in my mind to score Back to Black,” the director said. “Over the years, I’ve listened to everything they’ve composed and longed to realize the dream of working together. Their sensibility as well as understanding of this story has led to a profoundly deep and moving film score.”

It's to be expected that Winehouse's own iconic compositions will be at the fore of the film (most of which have been re-recorded and performed by lead actor Marisa Abela), Cave and Ellis are said to have composed somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes of music for Back to Black.

The prolific duo have worked together on many film scores, among other things, over the years, including scoring two 2022 Netflix projects: Blonde and Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.

Back to Black is in theatres May 10. Watch the latest trailer below.

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