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If you’ve got a Shania Twain biopic, that does impress us much.
It’s true, Twainiacs. The country-pop icon’s life story is reportedly headed for the big screen, with a biopic adaptation in the works for Sony Pictures co-produced by the five-time Grammy winner herself.
Titled simply Shania, the film will be helmed by multi-hyphenate filmmaker Leah McKendrick, known for the hit indie comedy-drama Scrambled and the upcoming Netflix rom-com Voicemails for Isabelle. McKendrick will direct Shania from her own original script, her representatives told CBC News.
As for casting, a release date and exactly which part of Shania’s life will get the cinematic treatment, McKendrick’s representatives say those details are being kept tightly under wraps for now. But anyone who watched the 2022 Netflix documentary Shania Twain: Not Just a Girl knows there’s no shortage of material.
The 60-year-old superstar’s rags-to-riches story spans a rise from a childhood marked by extreme poverty in Timmins, Ont., to becoming one of the bestselling artists in country music history.
A Deadline report is also letting at least one clue slip: McKendrick’s own background as a pop singer-songwriter apparently helped her land the gig.
Like many of us who grew up belting Man! I Feel Like a Woman! at the top of our lungs, McKendrick reflected on those memories — and her utter disbelief at getting the chance to work with her idol — on Instagram.
“Long before I was making movies, I was shooting Shania music videos in my bedroom,” McKendrick posted along with screenshots of the Deadline article announcing the biopic.
“This wild-hearted force of a woman means so much to me — and the world. It is a surreal dream come true to get to bring her trailblazing, gut-punching, awe-inspiring story to the screen.”
She added, “I am honoured. I am humbled. I am READY. Let’s go, girls.”
McKendrick will likely have her work cut out for her, given the extensive rhinestone-encrusted ground the film could cover.
Since the early ’90s, Twain has been pumping out timeless, epochal hits, including Any Man of Mine, That Don’t Impress Me Much, You’re Still the One, Up! and From This Moment On.
According to McKendrick’s representatives, these songs have helped lay the foundation for today’s genre-bending, country-pop crossover sound and earned Twain the title of bestselling female country-pop artist of all time with more than 100 million albums sold worldwide.
And that’s all before we get to the leopard print.
Twain is known among fans as the undisputed cheetah and leopard print queen — a title she cemented with the iconic, head-to-toe animal-print ensemble she wore in the That Don’t Impress Me Much music video. That track appeared on her 1997 Come on Over album which, by the way, remains the bestselling studio album by a female solo artist of all time.
Did you know Shania Twain’s famous women’s anthem actually features a man?
Between 1993 and 2010, Twain was married to songwriter and producer Mutt Lange, who helped her create hits like “You’re Still the One” and “That Don’t Impress Me Much.” But if you pay close attention to the chorus on her biggest hit, “Man! I Feel Like a Woman,” you will hear Lange’s voice harmonizing with Twain’s.
The biopic announcement comes ahead of Twain’s seventh studio album, Little Miss Twain, set for release on July 24. According to Deadline, the record is expected to be the most personal work of her career.
Shania is the latest high-profile music biopic on Sony Pictures’ slate. The studio previously released Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody through TriStar in December 2022 and is also backing the upcoming The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event, directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Sam Mendes.
CBC News reached out to Twain and Sony Pictures for comment, but did not immediately hear back.
