Merle Haggard Biopic Currently In the Works on Amazon Prime

The life story of country legend Merle Haggard will soon be turned into a biopic on Amazon Prime, with some of Hollywood’s biggest names set to take part.

Confirmed by Haggard’s widow, Theresa, the upcoming film will be presented by Amazon Studios and trace Haggard’s incredible rise to fame, based on the Haggard memoir Sing Me Back Home. Mrs. Haggard and director Robin Bissell will team up to co-write and produce the project, which will be set in the 1960s following Haggard’s three-year sentence at California’s San Quentin State Prison. It was there that Haggard witnessed the first of Johnny Cash’s famous prison concerts, forever altering the course of Haggard’s life and inspiring his artistic career.

View this post on Instagram

Dear fans and friends, I am happy to announce that I have been in negotiations with Amazon studios studios and Hollywood director Robin Bissel to make the Merle Haggard movie. I promised my late husband, Merle Haggard that I would get this done and I’m giving it my best shot. I will be writing and producing with Robin Bissel this great story. Merle had a great life. And as we used to joke about he had many lives and this will be the first of this magnitude to show how great of an artist and man he truly was. I hope to bring him the glory he so deserves. Maybe you’ve already heard the news but now you’re hearing from me. God bless each and every one of you in these trying times. Sincerely with love, Theresa Haggard

A post shared by Merle Haggard (@merlehaggardofficial) on Jul 28, 2020 at 9:59am PDT

According reporting by Deadline, Oscar winner Sam Rockwell is “circling” to play the icon, and will likely do his own singing in the film. It will reveal Haggard’s tumultuous childhood and journey to artistic redemption, his complicated love story with singing partner and eventual wife, Bonnie Owens, and much more. And according to Theresa, it was Haggard’s wish to pursue the project.

“I promised my late husband, Merle Haggard that I would get this done and I’m giving it my best shot,” Mrs. Haggard wrote on Instagram. “I will be writing and producing with Robin Bissel this great story. Merle had a great life. And as we used to joke about he had many lives and this will be the first of this magnitude to show how great of an artist and man he truly was. I hope to bring him the glory he so deserves.”

There’s no word yet on when the film will be released.