Following the celebrated documentary “The Sound of My Voice,” ‘70s singer-songwriter Linda Ronstadt is having a moment and getting her due. Earlier in the week, it was announced that Selena Gomez would portray the singer in an upcoming biopic, and now a director has been announced. Rumors swirled late in the week that David O. Russell would be directing the biopic, and now Variety and numerous trades have confirmed the news.
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The pop singer and “Only Murders in the Building” star teased her role earlier in the week by posting a picture of Ronstadt’s 2013 memoir “Simple Dreams” on her Instagram story. Shortly after that, Gomez’s lead role was confirmed.
The untitled music biopic is currently in pre-production, and producers on the project include Ronstadt’s manager, John Boylan, and James Keach, who produced the aforementioned 2019 doc “Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice.” Ronstadt and Gomez are both of Mexican descent.
O. Russell is also working on “Super Toys,” with Keke Palmer and Sacha Baron Cohen attached to star, but it sounds like this Ronstadt film has momentum and will enter production later this year. The filmmaker has five Oscar nominations, including three Best Directing noms for “The Fighter” (2011), “Silver Linings Playbook,” (2013), and “American Hustle” (2015).
He is, however, coming off arguably the biggest bomb of his career, the star-studded “Amsterdam” from 2022, which reportedly lost the studio around $100 million after it largely flopped at the box office and was rejected by critics. Still, the filmmaker has a great facility for music and should be more than at home with the subject matter.
Ronstadt has won 11 Grammys in her lifetime and is known for rock and roll and country hits, many coming from 1970s albums like Heart Like A Wheel and Simple Dreams.
