Renee Zellweger To Play Judy Garland In Upcoming Biopic

Renee Zellweger will play Judy Garland in an upcoming biopic about the later stages of her life.

RENEE ZELLWEGER TO PLAY JUDY GARLAND IN BIOPIC

Garland died of a drug overdose at the age of 47 in June 1969. Zellweger, 48, will play the tragic Wizard of Oz star, and the film, simply titled Judy, will focus on Garland’s final concerts in London in the late ’60s. Rather than playing up the star’s death, the film will look mainly at her preparation for her five weeks of concerts and the relationships she built along the way. Rupert Goold will direct the piece, which is set to start shooting in February 2018.

Judy was written by Tom Edge, whose credits include Netflix’s The Crown and the BBC adaptations of J.K. Rowling‘s Cormoran Strike novels. David Livingstone will produce the piece. The film will open in the winter of 1968, when Garland traveled to London to perform a series of sold-out concerts at the then-named Talk of the Town venue (now the Hippodrome Casino).

Judy seems like it will follow the same general plot as 2012’s Tony-nominated play End of the Rainbow, which starred Tracie Bennett as Garland. Producers say Goold’s film will feature many of Garland’s famous songs, performed by Zellweger herself.

Zellweger is best known for playing the title role in three Bridget Jones films. She also starred in Chicago, Jerry Maguire, and Cold Mountain. She won an Oscar, a BAFTA, a Golden Globe, and a Screen Actors Guild Award for her performance in the latter.