It’s been a “Long, Long Time” coming for a Linda Ronstadt biopic.
The Grammy-winning singer is at the center of an upcoming biopic, with “Only Murders in the Building” star Selena Gomez portraying Ronstadt. Rolling Stone confirmed that the film is in pre-production, with Ronstadt’s manager John Boylan and “Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice” documentarian James Keach co-producing. IndieWire has reached out to Gomez’s representatives for comment.
Actress Gomez shared an Instagram story of reading Ronstadt’s 2013 memoir “Simple Dreams” before her casting was announced.
Gomez and Ronstadt both share Mexican heritage, with Ronstadt’s 2022 album “Feels Like Home” including stories of her Sonoran upbringing. Documentary “Linda and the Mockingbirds” was released in 2020 and captured her visit to Mexico to work with Los Cenzontles Cultural Arts Academy students alongside fellow musician Jackson Browne. Ronstadt was also the subject of the 2019 documentary “The Sound of My Voice,” which spanned her five-decade career, including her Broadway debut in “Pirates of Penzance.”
Ronstadt officially retired from singing after her 2012 Parkinson’s Disease diagnosis. In March 2021, Ronstadt sold her recorded-music assets, including royalty streams from her master recordings and ownership of some masters, to Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artist Group.
Ronstadt spoke out about “The Last of Us” using “Long, Long Time” in the critically acclaimed episode of the same name, saying that songwriter Gary White will “get a windfall” from the rediscovered, newly viral song. The ballad spiked on Spotify following its inclusion in the HBO series.
Ronstadt’s manager Boylan, who is producing the yet-untitled biopic starring Gomez, said of Ronstadt at the time, “She’s not unhappy about it, believe me. We sold her catalog. The last four or five years have been a complete tsunami of buyouts like this.”
Meanwhile, Gomez led her own recent documentary “My Mind & Me,” directed by “Madonna: Truth or Dare” helmer Alek Keshishian, which chronicled her struggle with mental health. The singer-actress-producer is also behind an upcoming reboot of 1988 comedy “Working Girl,” and will reprise her role in Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building” for a fourth season.
