Janis Joplin at Spaulding Taylor's house in San Francisco in January, 1968.
The Janis Joplin biopic that was slated to star five-time Oscar nominee Amy Adams, Get it While You Can, has been scrapped. Director Jean-Marc Vallée confirmed the news recently, putting an end to the nearly seven-year saga to bring the rock icon's story to screen. Speaking to Collider, Vallée (Dallas Buyers Club) explained that his work on a pair of HBO projects was the cause.
Vallée said he is moving from the upcoming HBO series Big Little Lies to an adaptation of Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects. "We’re starting very soon. I committed to that before Big Little Lies," he said. "I was working with Amy Adams on the Janis [Joplin] project that we’re finally not doing, and she invited me to play in her new sandbox, doing a TV series."
The Vallée-directed Joplin biopic -- not to be confused with another one that is currently in production starring Michelle Williams -- appeared to be on its way in 2014 when the director signed on, four years after Adams committed to the project. Several directors had been attached and then dropped out (Fernando Meirelles, Lee Daniels) of the movie since it was hatched in 2010 and at different points Reese Witherspoon and Renee Zellweger were also mentioned as possible stars.
Williams confirmed in November that she has signed on for a Joplin pic, Janis, which will be directed by Sean Durkin and is based on the biography Love, Janis by the late singer's sister, Laura Joplin. The book uses Joplin’s letters to family and friends to tell the story of a young woman rising from playing at coffeehouses to playing at Woodstock, dealing with sudden fame and celebrity while combating alcohol and heroin addiction all the while trying to keep her creativity.
Joplin died in 1970 at the age of 27 from a heroin overdose after releasing only three albums and enjoying such hits as "Piece of My Heart." A fourth album was released just months after her death and featured one of her last hits, "Me and Bobby McGee."