Untitled Sinéad O’Connor biopic

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Sinéad O’Connor Biopic in the Works From ‘Slow Horses’ Banner See-Saw Films and Producers of ‘Nothing Compares’ Doc

A Sinéad O’Connor biopic is in development.

Variety has learned that a film is in the works that will tell the story of the early life and career of the iconic Irish musician, who died in 2023 at the age of 56.

Behind the project is Irish production company ie: entertainment, which executive produced the critically acclaimed O’Connor documentary “Nothing Compares” (and worked with the singer in the process), alongside fellow Irish banner Nine Daughters (“God’s Creatures,” “Lady Macbeth”) and See-Saw Films (“Slow Horses,” “The Power of the Dog”). Nine Daughters and See-Saw reunite having previously collaborated on “Ammonite.” Variety has reached out to See-Saw Films for confirmation without response.

The film — which is understood to have been in the works since 2022’s “Nothing Compares” doc — is being directed by Josephine Decker (“Shirley”), working from a script by Irish writer Stacey Gregg. Nine Daughters founder Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly and the Oscar-winning duo of Iain Canning and Emile Sherman (“The King’s Speech,” “Lion”) from See-Saw will produce, as will Neil Chordia (Urban Hymn), with music heavyweight Tim Clark serving as executive producer on behalf of ie: entertainment. BBC Film is funding the film’s development.

O’Connor became one of the most legendary figures in Irish cultural history and a trailblazer for women across the world. At 23, she won a Grammy for her sophomore album “I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got,” which spent six weeks at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard chart in 1990 and contained the hit single “Nothing Compares 2 U,” one of the biggest selling songs of the year. The album and single amassed multiple global music accolades, including a Billboard and Brit Award, while O’Connor became the first woman to win MTV Video of the Year.

Alongside her music, O’Connor was a passionate campaigner, activist and, as she described it, “protest singer,” using her platform to denounce issues such as sexism in the music business and corruption within the Catholic Church. During a 1992 appearance on “Saturday Night Live” and just 25 years old at the time, she famously tore up a picture of Pope John Paul II, sparking a wave of condemnation.

The biopic, Variety hears, will explore O’Connor’s early life and beginnings in the music industry. It will look to tell the story of how one young woman from Dublin took on the world, examining how her global fame may have been built on her talent, but her name became synonymous with her efforts to draw attention to the crimes committed by the Catholic Church and the Irish state.

Full credits for the biopic include Decker as director, Gregg as writer and O’Reilly, Chordia, Canning and Sherman as producers. The project is a See-Saw Films, Nine Daughters and ie: entertainment production. Ie: entertainment co-founder Clark will executive produce, alongside See-Saw Film’s joint managing director Simon Gillis and BBC Film commissioning executive Kristin Irving.