New Amy Winehouse movie trailer released, fans urge filmmakers to 'leave her alone'

Fans of Amy Winehouse have reacted angrily to the release of the first trailer of a new film about her life. 

Back to Black stars Marisa Abela as Winehouse and is directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson.  

The trailer's release promised the movie would be spent "charting Winehouse's vibrant years living in London and her intense journey to fame." 

Winehouse died of alcohol poisoning on July 23, 2011, at the age of 27.  The chart-topper's battle with addiction and an eating disorder was heavily publicised throughout her career, with her struggles becoming a permanent fixture in tabloid media at the time. 

But while Taylor-Johnson has described the casting of Abela as "akin to finding gold dust", hailing her as "the perfect actor to play Amy", some have taken to social media to voice their disappointment about the upcoming film. 

To date, four other documentaries and movies have been made about Winehouse's turbulent life. 

Director Asif Kapadia's 2015 film Amy was the most successful, winning a total of 30 awards including Best Documentary at the 28th European Film Awards, Best Documentary at the 69th British Academy Film Awards, Best Music Film at the 58th Grammy Awards and the Best Documentary Feature at the 88th Academy Awards. 

"Leave her alone," one wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter) under the official trailer. 

Another was more direct, writing: "Nasty film. A blatant disrespect to Amy. Leave her the f**k alone." 

"Too soon," one commented. 

"This looks awful. Bad cosplay and Amy deserves better," another wrote. 

However, some have praised the movie's first look, noting the revelation from Taylor-Johnson that Abela "trained daily for hours to be able to sing throughout the entire movie." 

One wrote: "Gonna be epic." 

Back to Black opens in New Zealand on April 25.