Marisa Abela in "Back to Black."
The Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black—which was a bust in U.S. theaters—is making a quick debut on digital streaming.
Starring Marisa Abela as Winehouse, Back to Black chronicles the life and career of the British singer, who died of alcohol poisoning on July 23, 2011, at age 27.
The official logline for the Focus Features release—directed by 50 Shades of Grey filmmaker Sam Taylor-Johnson—reads:
“The extraordinary story of Amy Winehouse’s early rise to fame from her early days in Camden through the making of her groundbreaking album, Back to Black that catapulted Winehouse to global fame. Told through Amy’s eyes and inspired by her deeply personal lyrics, the film explores and embraces the many layers of the iconic artist and the tumultuous love story at the center of one of the most legendary albums of all time.”
Back to Black was released domestically on May 17 and will officially premiere on premium video on demand on Tuesday. Viewers in the Pacific Time Zone will be able to either rent or buy Back to Black starting at 11 p.m. Monday on Prime Video. At that point, it will already be Tuesday in the Eastern, Central and Mountain Time zones.
Prime Video has Back to Black listed at $24.99 for pre-order, which generally reflects the PVOD purchase price.
Digital rentals—which are good for 48 hours once a viewer starts watching the film—generally run $5 cheaper at $19.99. The film is also listed for pre-order at such digital platforms as AppleTV+ and VUDU.
How Was ‘Back To Black’ Received By Audiences And Critics?
Back to Black made $2.8 million in its opening weekend in 2,010 theaters domestically for a fifth-place finish at the box office. According to Box Office Mojo, the biopic about the Rehab hitmaker finished at No. 17 over the weekend with a domestic take of $250,000, which brings its North American tally to $6 million.
The Movie Database reported that the production budget for Back to Black was $30 million before prints and advertising.
Back to Black at least has gained some ground back in international markets, where, per Box Office Mojo, it has earned $41.4 million. Combined with the domestic take, the film has earned $47.4 million to date. On the review front, Back to Black was roasted by Rotten Tomatoes critics, who gave the film a “rotten” 34% rating based on 164 reviews.
Back to Black features Marisa Abela singing Amy Winehouse’s songs, which was a plus and minus for some critics.
“Lip-synching might have been ghoulish, a strange half-resurrection of the dead. Abela can certainly carry a tune, and she convinces us of Winehouse’s singular vocal muscle,” critic Richard Lawson wrote in Vanity Fair.
“But then when one relistens to the real thing, it becomes glumly obvious what is missing in the film: the true pain and passion behind what Winehouse was doing, the feeling that she described as pouring out of her, as necessary as breath” Lawson added.
RT users were a lot more positive in their assessment of Back to Black, giving it a “fresh” 86% audience score based on 100-plus verified ratings.
