Biopic fever: all the celebrities who will have a movie

Michael, the biopic about Michael Jackson, is making waves globally: 217 million in its opening weekend and number one at the worldwide box office. And that despite the bad reviews. The biopic genre has long since carved out an important place in cinemas. The lives of real people are usually a good draw to attract the viewer’s attention and, in the process, help boost box office revenue. Critical acclaim is another matter. 

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And inhabiting a real character is a challenge that also serves as a direct vehicle to the Oscars. The list of winning actors and actresses in recent years is long: Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr for Oppenheimer, Meryl Streep for her Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, Will Smith for playing Richard Williams in King Richard, Eddie Redmayne as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything, Jamie Foxx as the blind musician Ray Charles in Ray, Rami Malek for his Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, or Renée Zellweger as an insecure Judy Garland in Judy.

Musicians are undoubtedly the great protagonists of the genre: life and music as an unbeatable combination. On the big screen have appeared Dennis Quaid imbued with the spirit of Jerry Lee Lewis in Great Balls of Fire; Angela Bassett captured the energy of Tina Turner in Tina; Joaquin Phoenix masterfully portrayed Johnny Cash in Walk the Line and Reese Witherspoon played his partner June Carter. Taron Egerton embodied Elton John in Rocketman; Timothée Chalamet was a young Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown; Austin Butler portrayed Elvis Presley under Baz Luhrmann’s direction in Elvis and Jacob Elordi also took on the role of the King of Rock directed by Sofia Coppola in Priscilla. Marisa Abela strove to dignify Amy Winehouse in Back to Black, the weak portrait of the singer who died at 27. Likewise, Naomi Ackie as the impressive Whitney Houston in Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody.

And the fever continues. Because when a formula proves profitable in Hollywood, the success is squeezed to the maximum, as happens with the endless remakes and sequels. Last year was prolific in several biographical titles. Angelina Jolie dared with Maria Callas directed by Pablo Larraín; Robbie Williams even became an ape to recreate his life in the fun Better Man; Jeremy Allen White had the support of The Boss playing him in Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, although the film did not convince critics; and Ethan Hawke was nominated for an Oscar for his performance as lyricist Lorenz Hart in Blue Moon, by Richard Linklater, director who recreated the filming of Breathless, by Jean-Luc Godard, in the exquisite Nouvelle Vague, with a cast in top form. Dwayne Johnson, on the other hand, ultimately did not get the nomination he sought by immersing himself in the life of wrestler Mark Kerr in The Smashing Machine. 

On the national front, Leiva showed his most vulnerable side in the documentary Until I Run Out of Voice, Alba Flores was moved recalling the legacy of her father Antonio in Flores para Antonio and Alejandro Amenábar focused on The Captive during the period when Miguel de Cervantes was captured and spent several years captive in Algiers. This 2026 the phenomenon of the moment is Michael, about the ill-fated King of Pop Michael Jackson, who returns to the scene in the skin of his nephew Jaafar Jackson. 

And from the King of Pop to the Queen of Pop, Madonna, whose turbulent life and rise to fame will be a Netflix series, after the initial 2023 project for a film was definitively paused. Its release is scheduled for 2027 with Julia Garner as the singer of Material Girl and Shawn Levy involved in the production. The red N giant also plans to release this year Aquel, an eight-episode biographical series about singer Raphael, and a documentary about tennis player Rafa Nadal. 

Audrey Hepburn, an icon of elegance, will be revived on the big screen by Thomasin McKenzie in Dinner with Audrey, which follows the 40-year friendship between the Roman Holiday actress and designer Count Hubert de Givenchy (Ansel Elgort), set on a fashion night in Paris. Montserrat Caballé, who died at 85, will have her own film. Directed by Patricia Ortega, Caballé will tell the story of the Catalan soprano – portrayed by Begoña Alberdi and Ana Saavedra – from her beginnings to becoming the great diva of world opera. It is a Filmax production still without a release date.  

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The unforgettable star of Vertigo (1958), Kim Novak, has strongly opposed the exuberant Sydney Sweeney portraying her in Scandalous!, a project still in development that will focus on her relationship with Sammy Davis Jr. in the 1950s. Another production also in development is Willie and Jimmy Dean, in which actor Brandon Flynn has the task of playing James Dean in a biopic based on the memoirs of William Bast, Surviving James Dean, where he recounts his romantic relationship with the star of East of Eden, Giant and Rebel Without a Cause. 

Expectations are high for the ambitious four interconnected biographical films that Sam Mendes is preparing about the Beatles, which will hit theaters in April 2028 with a stellar cast: Harris Dickinson (Lennon), Paul Mescal (McCartney), Joseph Quinn (Harrison) and Barry Keoghan (Starr). Universal Pictures is behind the official Bon Jovi biopic, focused on the band’s rise from New Jersey clubs. German Diane Kruger will face the biggest challenge of her career portraying her legendary compatriot Marlene Dietrich in a film that Fatih Akin has been preparing for some time. A similar challenge to Shailene Woodley’s with Janis Joplin, rock and blues singer who was initially to be played by Amy Adams. The project, years in development, still has no release date. 

New Zealander K.J. Apa steps into the shoes of James Stewart in Jimmy, a story that especially explores the times as a combat pilot in World War II of the legendary actor and his return to acting with It’s a Wonderful Life. In I Play Rocky, Anthony Ippolito plays a young Sylvester Stallone in this story that will recreate the arduous filming process of Rocky. And beyond the figures of the music and film industry, Italian Luca Guadagnino is at the helm of Artificial, focused on the confusing cycle of firings and rehirings of Sam Altman at OpenAI. The film’s cast is led by Andrew Garfield and Yuriy Borisov. 

On the horizon, Teyana Taylor, the revelation of One Battle After Another, is working on the biopic about the life of singer Dionne Warwick, while Selena Gomez has on her agenda to play another music figure, Linda Ronstadt. On the other hand, Tom Holland’s desire to portray Fred Astaire in a project announced in 2021 has been stalled due to the legendary Hollywood dancer’s family’s refusal to have him portrayed on the big screen. And economic disagreements have thwarted Ridley Scott’s idea to make a film about the Bee Gees. Time will tell.