Sinéad O’Connor biopic reportedly in the works

A biopic about Sinéad O’Connor is reportedly in development.

• READ MORE: Sinéad O’Connor, 1966-2023: an artist of integrity, intensity and honesty

The reports of an upcoming film about the iconic Irish singer were first shared by Variety, although rumours date back to 2023. The latest report from the outlet claims that the project has been in the works since 2022’s Nothing Compares documentary, and will recall the life and career of the late artist.

Irish production company ie: entertainment is said to be behind the biopic, and also worked on the 2022 documentary. Also involved in the project are Irish banner Nine Daughters and See-Saw Films. The former is behind Lady Macbeth and God’s Creatures, while the latter is behind Slow Horses and The Power Of The Dog.

BBC Film is reportedly funding the biopic’s development, and Shirley’s Josephine Decker has been brought in as director.

The script is said to be written by Irish writer Stacey Gregg. Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly, Neil Chordia, Iain Canning and Emile Sherman are attached as producers. Music heavyweight Tim Clark is said to be booked on as executive producer too.

According to the Variety report, the film will provide an in-depth look at O’Connor’s early life and her beginnings in the world of music.

“It will look to tell the story of how one young woman from Dublin took on the world, examining how her global fame may have been built on her talent, but her name became synonymous with her efforts to draw attention to the crimes committed by the Catholic Church and the Irish state,” it claimed.

The latter refers to how O’Connor was a passionate activist, and frequently used her platform to call out sexism in the music industry and corruption in the Catholic Church. In  1992, she famously used her slot on Saturday Night Live to tear up a photograph of Pope John Paul II during her performance.

The Irish singer passed away on July 26 2023, aged 56. Her cause of death was later revealed to be asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). She was laid to rest at a ceremony in the Irish town of Bray last August, with Bob Geldof and Bono among those paying tribute at her funeral.

Many figures from the music industry paid tribute to her online, including Garbage, Billy Corgan, Michael Stipe, Fall Out Boy, Ice-T and Tori Amos, and streams of her music went up by 7.9million in the US during the week after her death.

Her biggest hit was her cover of Prince‘s ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’, and she also won a Grammy for her second album ‘I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got’, which she released when she was just 23. Other accolades included O’Connor becoming the first woman to win an MTV Video Of The Year award.

Further details about the forthcoming biopic are expected to be shared at a later date.

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