See-Saw Films, known for Slow Horses, to develop a Sinéad O’Connor biopic: Here's what we know so far

Sinéad O’Connor was an Irish singer and activist who lived an interesting life. Besides her career as a performer and songwriter, O'Connor was known for tearing up the photograph of Pope John Paul II during a live performance on Saturday Night Live in 1992.

Recently, it's been reported that See-Saw Films is working on her biopic. The production company is known for backing Apple TV's dark comedy spy thriller Slow Horses, which has been airing since 2022. Let's find out all the details about the biopic.

Sinéad O’Connor biopic currently in the works

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Variety has reported that See-Saw Films is developing a biopic on Irish singer-songwriter Sinéad O’Connor. The film will focus on her early life as well as her career. The production banners behind the film are ie: entertainment, Nine Daughters, and See-Saw Films. ie: entertainment, which is an Irish production company, had worked with O’Connor on the documentary film Nothing Compares, which had its world premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.

This will be the second collaboration between See-Saw Films and Nine Daughters (which is also an Irish production house) after Ammonite. Josephine Decker is directing the film and has also written the script with Stacey Gregg. Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly, Iain Canning, and Emile Sherman are producing the film, while Tim Clark is the executive producer. BBC Film is reportedly backing the development of the project.

O'Connor was born on 8 December 1966 in Dublin. At the age of 21, she released her first studio album, The Lion and the Cobra, in 1987. She ended up winning a Grammy Award for her second album, I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got. The lead single of this album, titled Nothing Compares 2 U, was mentioned at the Billboard Music Awards as the top world single of the year.

Besides her musical career, Sinéad O’Connor was also an activist. She used her fame and stage to talk about issues like sexism, racism, human rights, as well as corruption. One of the highlights was her tearing apart Pope John Paul II's photograph during a live performance on Saturday Night Live in 1992. This act received backlash around that time, but nearly ten years later, several child abuse cases surfaced from the Catholic Church.

On the personal front, Sinéad O’Connor was married four times: John Reynolds (1989-1991), Nick Sommerlad (2001-2003), Steve Cooney (2010-2011) and Barry Herridge (married in 2011). She had four children in total. On July 26, 2023, O'Connor passed away at the age of 56 in London. The cause of her death was attributed to multiple issues, including asthma and respiratory tract infection.

In recent years, Hollywood has churned out several biopics based on singers and musicians, including Rocketman, Bohemian Rhapsody, and the upcoming Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere. There are projects in the pipeline on the Beatles and Ozzy Osbourne.

Are you excited about the Sinéad O’Connor biopic?