Olivia Newton-John Documentary In the Works - Broadwayworld

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Olivia Newton-John Documentary In the Works

The producers have fully-authorized access to Newton-John’s music and personal archives for the documentary.

by Michael Major

A feature-length documentary on the life and career of the late Olivia Newton-John is in the works from R.J. Cutler’s This Machine.

Variety reports that the documentary will explore Newton-John’s life and work as an iconic entertainer, best-selling music artist, animal rights and environmental activist and health, wellness and plant medicine advocate.

This Machine has fully-authorized access to Newton-John’s music library and personal archives for the documentary. A director for the project has not yet been announced.

This Machine was behind the Billie Eilish documentary, “The World’s A Little Blurry,” which was also directed by Cutler. Cutler and this machine are currently at work at an Elton John documentary, “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: The Final Elton John Performances and the Years That Made His Legend” set for Disney+.

In 1978, Newton-John’s co-starring role with John Travolta in “Grease” earned her a Golden Globe nomination as “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical of Comedy.” This film’s best-selling soundtrack featured the duets “You’re The One That I Want” and “Summer Nights,” with Travolta, as well as her mega-hit, “Hopelessly Devoted To You.” To date “Grease” remains the most successful movie musical in history.

Olivia’s additional feature film credits include “Funny Things Happen Down Under,” “Toomorrow,” “Xanadu,” “Two Of A Kind,” “It’s My Party,” “Sordid Lives,” “Score: A Hockey Musical,” and “A Few Best Men.”

With more than 100 million albums sold, Olivia’s accolades include four Grammy Awards, numerous Country Music, American Music and Peoples Choice Awards, ten #1 hits including “Physical,” (which topped the charts for ten consecutive weeks making it the #1 single of the ’80s), and over 15 top 10 singles.

In November 2015, Billboard Magazine listed “Physical” at #8 on their “Top 100 Songs Of All Time” list and in 2010 listed it as “The Sexiest Song of All Time.” In addition, in 2015 Olivia was ranked #20 on Billboard’s “Greatest of All Time Hot 100 Artists” and most recently was ranked #7 on Billboard’s “Greatest Of All Time Hot 100 Women Artists.”

In November 2020, she established the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund, an independent charity sponsoring global research into plant medicine for cancer. These investments in new scientific research will educate patients and their caregivers about kinder options for treating cancer. The charity is committed to realizing a world beyond cancer. For more information visit ONJFoundationFund.org.

In February 2021, Olivia and her daughter Chloe Lattanzi released “Window in the Wall,” which debuted at #1 on the iTunes Music Video Chart and the Amazon A/C Chart. Just a few months later Olivia scored another #1 hit on the Amazon A/C chart with “Put Your Head on My Shoulder,” a duet with music legend Paul Anka.