New Janis Joplin Biopic Will Star Shailene Woodley

A new biopic about Janis Joplin will star Shailene Woodley as the powerful singer.

According to reporting by Variety, the project has received $2.5 million in funding from the California Film Commission. Woodley will also produce the film.

“California meant so much to Janis Joplin,” the actress said in a statement, “from the stoops of San Francisco to the wooden walls of Sunset Sound, the state became the stage upon which she explored not just the world of music, but the world of her vibrant humanity.”

Neither a title nor a release date has been confirmed.

Why Hasn’t a Janis Joplin Film Been Made Yet?

This is not the first time a film about Joplin has allegedly been in the works and subsequently scrapped. Amy Adams was slated to play Joplin in Janis: Get It While You Can in 2010. Before that, Zooey Deschanel was to take on the role for The Gospel According to Janis, later replaced by the singer Pink. There was also 2004’s Piece of My Heart starring Renee Zellweger. None of the films ever came to fruition.

READ MORE: How Janis Joplin Inspired Bette Midler Film ‘The Rose’

“I think there’s a lot of things that go into that. I think that it’s a lot harder to get a biopic done about a female, that’s why we don’t have that many,” Pink told Howard Stern in 2023. “And also, I just don’t think that Janis wants it made.”