Over the years, music biopics have given us some of the most enchanting and unforgettable movie moments, which is why it should be no surprise that several Best Picture winners have been from the genre. Movies like Walk the Line, What’s Love Got to Do with It, and most recently, Bob Marley: One Love, have not only shed light on the careers, lives, and legacies of their subjects, they also introduced new audiences to several of history’s best musicians.
In the coming months and years, audiences will get to take a deep dive into the lives of even more celebrated musicians in the crop of upcoming music biopics. Here are some of the music-centric biographical dramas coming out in 2024 and beyond…
Back To Black – May 17, 2024
On May 17, 2024, Marisa Abela will play one of the most successful and tragic singers of the early 21st century when she takes on the role of Amy Winehouse in Back to Black. Directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, who previously helmed the John Lennon biopic titled Nowhere Boy, the movie will dive into the late singer’s life and the start of her career that saw her go from being a London jazz singer to one of the biggest music sensations in British music history.
The first Back to Black trailer, which shows Abela doing an incredible job of pulling off Winehouse’s signature vocal stylings and look, has us excited to finally get to see the movie that has been in the works since shortly after the singer’s shocking 2011 death.
Michael – April 18, 2025
Though the 1992 ABC miniseries, The Jacksons: An American Dream, took a deep dive into the life and career of Michael Jackson and his brothers, the King of Pop has never received a proper music biopic. Well, that will change in 2025 with the release of Michael. Directed by Antoine Fuqua, this highly anticipated biographical drama will turn its focus on the pop culture icon, who will be played by his nephew, Jaafar Jackson, though it’s not yet known what all that will entail.
There are some things we know about Michael at this point, including its April 18, 2025 release date, and the fact that Colman Domingo and Nia Long will be playing his parents, Joe and Katherine Jackson. Miles Teller is also set to appear in the movie as John Branca, Jackson’s longtime manager and the co-executor of his estate. A first-look image shared by sites like Deadline in February 2024 showed that not only were cameras rolling, but Jaafar Jackson also looked remarkably similar to his late uncle.
Maria – TBD
Pablo Larraín, the Academy Award-winning Chilean filmmaker behind biopics like Neruda, Jackie, and Spencer, will return to the genre once again with his upcoming project, Maria. The movie, which doesn’t have a release date at this time, will see Angelina Jolie take on the role of iconic opera singer, Maria Callas.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, which shared first-look images from the upcoming movie in October 2023, Maria will tell the story of Callas’ final days in 1970s Paris, though not a lot of other details have been released concerning the plot. Production was slated to kick off around that time.
A Complete Unknown – TBD
At some point in the future, Timothée Chalamet will portray one of the most influential musicians in American history: Bob Dylan. James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown will follow the trailblazing musician around the time he expanded his repertoire and shocked his fans by going electric at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, according to Deadline. Chalamet, who’s perfect for the role, will be joined by Elle Fanning and Edward Norton, who is set to portray folk legend Pete Seeger.
In the same article, it was revealed that production on the long-in-the-works project is slated to kick off in March 2024 in New York, though we don’t yet know when this will be hitting theaters.
Beautiful – TBD
We’ve seen several long-running Broadway musicals get turned into big-screen adaptations in recent years with the likes of The Color Purple and Mean Girls. At some point soon, we’ll have another addition to that list with Beautiful, a movie based on the Tony Award-winning Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.
In December 2022, Variety revealed a ton of information about the project, including that Where the Crawdads Sing star Daisy Edgar-Jones would be playing the beloved musician in the biopic helmed by The Kids Are All Right director Lisa Cholodenko. There aren’t a lot of details about the movie at this time, but Sony Pictures did secure the rights to King’s catalog of hits, meaning we’ll be hearing some legendary tracks in the musical biopic.
Grateful Dead Biopic – TBD
Grateful Dead, one of the pioneers of the jam band movement in the 20th century, will be getting the biographical drama treatment at some point in the future. What makes this so exciting is the fact that Martin Scorsese is attached to direct, Variety reported in November 2021. This won’t be the filmmaker’s first time working on a project about the Dead, as he previously helmed the 2017 documentary, Long Strange Trip.
Deadline also reported that Jonah Hill, who worked with Scorsese in The Wolf of Wall Street, had been tapped to play Garcia in the biopic. There hasn’t been any word on when the project will enter production or who will join Hill in the cast.
Sublime Biopic – TBD
Sublime, the iconic ‘90s band that became a massive hit thanks to its blend of punk, reggae, rock, and late singer Bradley Nowell’s signature voice, will be getting the biopic treatment if everything goes to plan. In September 2022, Variety reported that Francis Lawrence, the director behind I Am Legend and the Hunger Games movies, was spearheading the untitled project for Sony’s 3000 Pictures.
There hasn’t been much in terms of details about the biopic centered around the Long Beach alternative rock band, but it would be interesting to see how the movie handles the band’s rapid rise to fame and Nowell’s tragic death just before the release of their self-titled album.
Bee Gees Biopic – TBD
There has been talk of a movie about the Bee Gees for years, but it looks like it may really be happening this time. In December 2022, Deadline reported that Hustlers director Lorene Scafaria would be helming the Paramount Pictures biographical drama after original helmer, John Carney, backed out.
Not much is known at this time, and we don’t yet know who will be playing the chart-topping disco group best known for coming up with beloved tracks like “Stayin’ Alive” and “How Deep Is Your Love?” on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.
Expect to hear much more about all of these upcoming music biopics as time goes on. But, in the meantime, take a look at our rundown of 10 biopics about black musicians everyone should watch.
