Everybody’s talking about Jamie, indeed. Just as the musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie readies for its return to London’s West End May 20, the film adaptation of the coming-of-age-and-into-drag tale has secured a new release plan. Following suit with a handful of other upcoming titles, the movie will forgo a cinematic release and instead arrive directly on Amazon Prime Video September 17.
The stage-to-screen adaptation had initially been slated for a fall 2020 release; the coronavirus pandemic and resulting schedule shifts pushed it to January 2021 and then February, before Disney pulled the film from its 20th Century Studios docket, with no new date on the books until now.
Newcomer Max Harwood plays Jamie New (who blossoms into Mimi Me) in the movie; joining him are Oscar nominee Richard E. Grant as Hugo (the former drag queen known as Loco Chanelle), Sharon Horgan as Miss Hedge, Lauren Patel as Pritti Pasha, Shobna Gulati as Ray, Ralph Ineson as Wayne New, Adeel Akhtar as Iman Masood, Samuel Bottomley as Dean Paxton, and Sarah Lancashire as Margaret New. Jonathan Butterell and Kate Prince, director and choreographer of the original production, respectively, reprise their work for the movie.
In addition to songs from Dan Gillespie Sells and screenwriter Tom MacRae’s score, the film will feature an original song, titled “This Was Me,” performed by Frankie Goes to Hollywood lead singer Holly Johnson.
In addition to its U.K. triumph, the stage musical will make its North American premiere next year at the Los Angeles-based Center Theatre Group’s Ahmanson Theatre.
