Fans have been treated to the first trailer for Judy, the highly-anticipated biopic profiling Hollywood’s golden girl Judy Garland, and it looks like a whole lot of fun.
The new trailer, released online on Monday, provides a first look at Oscar winner Renee Zellweger playing the troubled entertainer, seven decades after she shot to fame in iconic musical The Wizard of Oz.
Set in the latter part of the performer’s career, the film takes place in 1968, when a struggling Garland arrives in London to perform a run of sold out concerts at the Talk of the Town nightclub, and centres around her breathtaking performances and her troubled private life.
The biopic also touches on her romance with Mickey Deans, the man who would become her fifth and final husband.
There’s also plenty of footage of Zellweger singing several of Garland’s signature songs, including ‘The Trolley Song’, ‘Come Rain Or Come Shine’ and of course, ‘Over The Rainbow’.
The trailer has been a hit with fans who were quick to comment on their excitement and anticipation to watch the movie in the coming months.
“Very excited about the trailer and the film! Wish I could watch the whole thing today,” one commentator wrote.
Another added: “Very much looking forward to this.”
Garland’s life was one of soaring highs and heartbreaking lows as she struggled with drug and alcohol addiction while giving the world hits like ‘Get Happy’, ‘The Trolley Song’ and ‘Over the Rainbow’.
Her Talk of the Town performances were some of the last she ever gave before her death, aged just 47. Deans found Garland’s lifeless body in the bathroom of their rented London home just six months after she arrived in London. An official investigation into her death confirmed she accidentally overdosed on barbiturates, a prescription drug for anxiety and insomnia.
Along with Zellweger, the film will star The Tudors’ Gemma-Leah Devereux as Garland’s daughter, Liza Minelli. English actor Rufus Sewell will play Garland’s third husband Sidney Luft, while Finn Wittrock, takes on the role of Deans.
“It was such a joy learning about the magnificence of this person,” Zellweger told People magazine in May.
“I always admired her. She was so quick and so funny. She could hit the ball back with the best of them.”
The film, directed by Rupert Goold and based on the Tony Award-nominated Broadway play ‘End of the Rainbow’ by Peter Quilter, hit cinemas across the globe in September, however Aussie cinemas won’t get it until October.