Michelle Williams in talks to play Janis Joplin

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Over the decades there have been many attempts at getting a biopic centering around American musician Janis Joplin off the ground, often with competing projects in development at once, but it seems as though one of them is finally moving forward. Variety reports that Michelle Williams (MY WEEK WITH MARILYN) is currently in talks to play the title role in Sean Durkin's (MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE) long-in-development adaptation of the 1960's rock icon's life.

Titled JANIS, the upcoming film is based upon "Love, Janis", a biography by her sister, Laura Joplin, which uses Joplin's letters to family and friends to convey her "wild ride from awkward small–town teenager to rock–and–roll queen." Variety also reports that producer Peter Newman has long held the rights to "a good portion of Joplin’s catalog and a large collection of written materials, which will be used to create a depiction of the last six months of her life." Who knows if JANIS will actually get off the ground as another long-in-development Janis Joplin biopic which was to be directed by Jean-Marc Vallée (DALLAS BUYERS CLUB) and star Amy Adams was actually slated to enter production last year, but so far, nothing.

A synopsis of "Love, Janis" via Amazon:

Through the eyes of her family and closest friends , we see Janis as a young girl, already rebelling against injustice, racism, and hypocrisy in society. We follow Janis as she discovers her amazing talents in the Beat hangouts of Venice and North Beach–singing in coffeehouses, shooting speed to enhance her creativity, challenging the norms of straight society. Janis truly came into her own in the fantastic, psychedelic, acid–soaked world of Haight–Asbury. At the height of her fame, Janis's life is a whirlwind of public adoration and hard living. Laura Joplin shows us not only the public Janice who could drink Jim Morrison under the table and bean him with a bottle of booze when he got fresh; she shows us the private Janis, struggling to perfect her art, searching for the balance between love and stardom, battling to overcome her alcohol addiction and heroin use in a world where substance abuse was nearly universal.<

Michelle Williams is currently preparing for THE GREATEST SHOWMAN, a musical biographical drama centering around American showman P.T. Barnum, founder of the circus that became the famous traveling Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Hugh Jackman stars as Barnum along with Rebecca Ferguson and Zac Efron. Production on THE GREATEST SHOWMAN is due to begin this winter for a December 25, 2017 release.