“Everybody’s Talking About Jamie,” the adaptation of the popular West End musical, has been acquired by Amazon Studios and will now be released this fall on the streamer instead of in theaters.
“Everybody’s Talking About Jamie” comes from New Regency, Film4 and Warp Films, and 20th Century Studios was meant to release the movie as early as last year, but the release was delayed due to COVID-19. Amazon will now drop it on September 17.
The film stars newcomer Max Harwood as Jamie, a teenager who finds local fame when he pursues dreams on stage and becomes a loud and proud drag queen. Richard E. Grant also stars along with Sarah Lancashire, Lauren Patel, Shobna Gulati, Ralph Ineson, Adeel Akhtar, Samuel Bottomley, with Sharon Horgan.
Jonathan Butterell directs “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie” from a screenplay and lyrics by Tom MacRae and songs by Dan Gillespie Sells. The score is composed by Sells and Anne Dudley. Mark Herbert, Peter Carlton, and Arnon Milchan are producing, with Yariv Milchan, Michael Schaefer, Natalie Lehmann, Daniel Battsek, Ollie Madden, Peter Balm, Niall Shamma and Jes Wilkins serving as executive producers.
“Everybody’s Talking About Jamie” is also inspired by true events, and it follows Jamie New (Harwood), a teenager from Sheffield, who dreams of life on stage. While his classmates plan their livelihoods after they leave school, Jamie contemplates revealing his secret career ambition to become a fierce and proud drag queen. His best friend Pritti (Patel) and his loving mum (Lancashire) shower him with endless support, while local drag legend Miss Loco Chanelle (Grant) mentors him toward his debut stage performance. But Jamie also has to contend with an unsupportive father (Ineson), an uninspired careers advisor (Horgan), and some ignorant school kids who attempt to rain on his sensational parade. In rousing and colorful musical numbers, Jamie and his community inspire one another to overcome prejudice, be more accepting, and to step out of the darkness into the spotlight.
The film’s original songs from the stage musical include “And You Don’t Even Know It,” “The Wall In My Head” and the title song “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie,” as well as a new song written for the film, “This Was Me,” which was performed by Holly Johnson, the lead singer of Frankie Goes to Hollywood.
“’Everybody’s Talking About Jamie’ has quickly become one of the most beloved musicals of recent years,” Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios, said in a statement. “Jamie’s story is one that resonates across all generations – it’s about unconditional love and we know our global audiences will fall in love with Jamie as he overcomes adversity to truly find his authentic self. We are so thrilled to share this joyful and inspirational story with the world.”
“I am thrilled that our film – the story of taking your place in the world with joy, pride and acceptance – will be winging its way across the world with the Amazon Family. Let’s come together to celebrate the glorious and fabulous uniqueness of each and every one of us,” Butterell said.
“Everybody’s Talking About Jamie” premiered at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield in 2017 before transferring to London’s Apollo Theatre, and the show picked up five Olivier Award nominations. Its star John McCrea named Best Musical Performer from the UK Theatre Awards.
The stage show will reopen its doors Thursday at the Apollo Theatre – the first musical in the West End to do so, before the UK tour recommences in Manchester in September 2021 visiting 24 UK cities, Tokyo in 2021, Los Angeles in January 2022 and Australia later in 2022.
Amazon also released a new teaser for the film, which you can watch above.