Shailene Woodley to play Janis Joplin in new biopic

Shailene Woodley is set to star as rocker Janis Joplin in a new biopic funded by the California Film Commission’s Film and Television Tax Credit Program. The film is one of 15 independent projects to receive funding from the commission.

“California meant so much to Janis Joplin – from the stoops of San Francisco to the wooden walls of Sunset Sound, the state became the stage upon which she explored not just the world of music, but the world of her vibrant humanity,” Woodley, who is also producing the film, shares. “I have a feeling Janis would be smiling ear to ear zipping down the PCH in her psychedelic Porsche knowing her story is bringing opportunities and funding to the city and people that held so much significance to her.” 

Woodley adds that she and the other producers on the project believe “California is the only place to film a slice of Janis’s life with authenticity and truth – and we are so grateful to have received the green light to do so!”

This isn’t the first attempt at making a Janis Joplin biopic. In fact, back in May The Hollywood Reporter ran a piece about the many failed attempts at making one. Among those who were at one time attached to play Joplin on screen were Amy Adams, Melissa Etheridge, Brittany Murphy, Renée Zellweger, Zooey Deschanel and Pink.

Joplin gained fame as one of the most electrifying performers of her era, thanks to appearances at the Monterey Pop Festival as lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist at Woodstock. She died Oct. 4, 1970, at the age of 27. At the time she was recording her second solo album, Pearl, which was released after her death and spent nine weeks at #1.

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