Back in March, we got our first insane look at Renée Zellweger as Judy Garland for the biopic simply named Judy. A BBC Films production, the film is directed by Rupert Goold and costars Michael Gambon. Irish actor Gemma-Leah Devereux will play Garland’s daughter Liza Minnelli.
According to the film’s IMDb, the biopic will tell the story of Garland’s last year of life after she arrived in London to perform a series of sold-out concerts.
The biopic is based on the 2005 play, End of the Rainbow, by Peter Quilter and is due for release in November 2018.
#JUDY starts principal photography in London today, starring Academy Award winner, Renée Zellweger as Judy Garland!#judygarland #reneezellweger #london #thetalkofthetown #jessiebuckley #finnwittrock #michaelgambon #rupertgoold #pathe #calamityfilms #bbcfilms #ingenious pic.twitter.com/VJAnMRuzKV
— Judy (@JudyGarlandFilm) March 19, 2018
Being a biopic and all, a lot of people sort of just assumed Minnelli was involved in the film in some shape or form. American entertainment publication Radar Online published a source piece claiming Zellweger and Minnelli had bonded on the set of the film but oh no, this definitely didn’t happen and the publication has since deleted the piece.
After seeing the article, Minnelli re-posted the link to her official Facebook page and slammed the film in its entirety.
To use Minnelli’s actual words the Cabaret actor said “I have never met nor spoken to Renee Zellweger… I don’t know how these stories get started, but I do not approve nor sanction the upcoming film about Judy Garland in any way. Any reports to the contrary are 100% Fiction.”
In late 2017, The Hollywood Reporter interviewed Zellweger while she was studying for her role as Garland. At the time, the Bridget Jones’s actor said she had yet to contact Minnelli telling THR “I think I might have to do that – thanks for the idea.”
