
Celine Dion
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Celine Dion-Inspired 'Power Of Love' Movie Coming In 2020
French film studio Gaumont shared they are going to begin shooting soon for a film—technically not a biopic—inspired by GRAMMY-winning vocal powerhouse Celine Dion, due out in 2020. The film is tentatively titled "The Power Of Love," from the Canadian singer's GRAMMY-nominated hit song, and will include her music.
French actress and director Valerie Lemercier will be directing the movie and also starring as the main character Aline, whose story and rise to fame as a teen in a large Canadian family is largely based on Dion's story. While news first circulated yesterday that the film would be a biopic about the star, today Variety shared Gaumont's clarification that it is a "homage" to her with fictional characters sharing a story similar to hers.
The budget is set at $23 million, which, as Variety highlighted, is quite large for French films, and is set to be one of the country's highest-profile movies in 2020. The acting will be primarily in French, with filming to take place in France, Spain, Canada and Las Vegas.
Lemercier felt a connection to Dion after the star lost her manager husband to cancer in 2016, and felt compelled to research her journey and her relationship with her mother and late husband. "I discovered the strength of their love story and their great humor, and I better understood how the alchemy of their three individual ambitions made an unwanted, little girl the greatest star on the planet," she told Variety.
Dion's story is one ripe to be adapted for the silver screen; she was born the youngest of 14 siblings in Quebec in 1968 and rose to fame nationally as a young teen. She began to gather an international following after releasing her first English-language album Unison in 1990, followed by a string of hits, including "The Power Of Love" in 1993, her first No. 1 hit, and "My Heart Will Go On" in 1998. That song, which was the theme song for the blockbuster hit Titanic, earned her two GRAMMY wins, including for Record Of The Year at 41st GRAMMY Awards. She was also one of the first musicians to have a residency in Las Vegas, and has been putting on show-stopping performances for years.