A biopic of legendary singer/songwriter Janis Joplin has been set, with Martha Marcy May Marlene director Sean Durkin helming the project. Recent Tony winner Nina Arianda will play Joplin in the film, which is scheduled to shoot early next year.

Deadline reported the news, writing:

Joplin will be made for a budget under $20 million, with production to start early next year, said producer Peter Newman, who with his partners have spent the last 12 years trying to put an indie film together with rights that include exclusive use of 21 of Joplin’s best-known songs. He said Arianda will sing Joplin’s tunes in the film, and that she has the chops to do justice to Joplin’s signature gritty sound.

Durkin certainly has the ability to work with an up-and-coming actress such as Arianda, having directed relative newcomer Elizabeth Olsen to much critical acclaim in last year’s Martha Marcy May Marlene, which won numerous awards at Sundance. The biopic is said to look at the last six months of Joplin’s life, with flashbacks to various stages of the singer’s life interspersed throughout the movie.

What do you think of the news? Are you interested in a Janis Joplin biopic? Are you happy with Durkin and Arianda’s involvement?