# Everybody's Talking About Jamie (film)
*Everybody's Talking About Jamie* is a 2021 British musical drama film directed by Jonathan Butterell, adapted from the 2017 stage musical of the same name about a 16-year-old from [Sheffield](https://www.edgepedia.org/sheffield), England who wants to be a drag queen.[1](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/everybodyas-talking-about-jamie) • [2](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2021/sep/20/grease-everybodys-talking-about-jamie-dear-evan-hansen-films-musicals) The story is inspired by true events and by the [BBC Three](https://www.edgepedia.org/bbc-three) documentary *Jamie: Drag Queen at 16* (2011), which followed the real teenager Jamie Campbell.[3](https://www.screendaily.com/news/amazon-studios-acquires-everybodys-talking-about-jamie/5159793.article) • [4](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-17/everybodys-talking-about-jamie-review-film-adaptation-of-musical/100465074)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director | Jonathan Butterell, who developed and directed the stage musical; the film is his first feature[1](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/everybodyas-talking-about-jamie) |
| Source | Stage musical premiered at the Crucible theater, Sheffield, in 2017, based on a 2011 BBC Three documentary about Jamie Campbell[2](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2021/sep/20/grease-everybodys-talking-about-jamie-dear-evan-hansen-films-musicals) • [4](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-17/everybodys-talking-about-jamie-review-film-adaptation-of-musical/100465074) |
| Writers | Dan Gillespie Sells and Tom MacRae, the show's original writers[1](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/everybodyas-talking-about-jamie) |
| Principal cast | Max Harwood, Lauren Patel, Richard E. Grant, Sharon Horgan, Sarah Lancashire, Shobna Gulati[1](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/everybodyas-talking-about-jamie) |
| Production companies | New Regency (US), Film4 (UK), Warp Films (UK)[1](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/everybodyas-talking-about-jamie) |
| Release | Acquired by Amazon Studios and released exclusively on Prime Video worldwide on September 17, 2021[3](https://www.screendaily.com/news/amazon-studios-acquires-everybodys-talking-about-jamie/5159793.article) |
| Critical score | 82% on Rotten Tomatoes, per the film's launch pack[5](https://www.greenroomproductions.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/JAMIE-LAUNCH-PACK-V6-.pdf) |
## Spoilers
### Story and changes from the stage
The film follows Jamie New, an openly gay Sheffield teenager who decides to wear a dress to his school prom and to pursue becoming a drag queen, supported by his mother and best friend and opposed by his father and his teacher.[4](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-17/everybodys-talking-about-jamie-review-film-adaptation-of-musical/100465074) Butterell and his co-writers were deliberate about the framing: "Dan, Tom and I didn't want to tell a victim story or a 'coming out' story... we wanted to tell a different story," the director said.[7](https://staging.nowthenmagazine.com/articles/jonathan-butterell-its-a-love-letter-to-sheffield-the-big-screen-adaptation-of-everybodys-talking-about-jamie)
**A new song.** The stage show's signature number for the drag mentor Hugo, "The Legend of Loco Chanel", was replaced for the film by a new ballad, "This Was Me", in which Hugo recounts his own past with reference to [Section 28](https://www.edgepedia.org/section-28) and the AIDS crisis. Writer Tom MacRae explained that on stage Hugo invents a "wonderful, western story song" when Jamie asks what London was like in the 1980s, while the film version looks back at real history.[8](https://whynow.co.uk/read/how-we-brought-everybodys-talking-about-jamie-to-the-screen) The ABC review identified this number as the film's "secret weapon", connecting Jamie's coming of age with the hard-won rights that make it possible, while judging that the music overall leans toward the heavily processed and serves atmosphere more than plot.[4](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-17/everybodys-talking-about-jamie-review-film-adaptation-of-musical/100465074)
## Origins on stage
The musical grew out of *Jamie: Drag Queen at 16*, a BBC Three documentary broadcast in 2011 about Jamie Campbell, a gay teenager who wanted to attend his school prom in a dress.[4](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-17/everybodys-talking-about-jamie-review-film-adaptation-of-musical/100465074) • [6](https://theschooltrip.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Everybodys-Talking-About-Jamie-Drama-Resource-Pack-The-School-Trip-Community.pdf) The stage version, with music by Dan Gillespie Sells, founder and lead singer of the British pop group [The Feeling](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-feeling), and book and lyrics by television writer Tom MacRae, was first staged at the Crucible theater in Sheffield in 2017 and then became a West End hit later that year.[2](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2021/sep/20/grease-everybodys-talking-about-jamie-dear-evan-hansen-films-musicals)
Producers from Warp Films, a Sheffield-based company, moved quickly: Jonathan Butterell recalled that "they were there at the 10th performance" and asked to meet him. A screen version was already in development by the time the show reached the West End, and Butterell, who had previously worked as a film choreographer on [Marc Forster](https://www.edgepedia.org/marc-forster)'s *[Stay](https://www.edgepedia.org/stay-2005-film)* and *[Finding Neverland](https://www.edgepedia.org/finding-neverland-film)*, was kept on as director despite never having made a film.[2](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2021/sep/20/grease-everybodys-talking-about-jamie-dear-evan-hansen-films-musicals) • [7](https://staging.nowthenmagazine.com/articles/jonathan-butterell-its-a-love-letter-to-sheffield-the-big-screen-adaptation-of-everybodys-talking-about-jamie)
## Casting
Butterell put out calls on social media for newcomers and cast the 21-year-old Max Harwood as Jamie New. John McCrea, who had originated the role in Sheffield and London, appears only in a walk-on; Butterell explained that by filming McCrea was 27, and "I didn't want to do a Grease, where you've got 30-year-olds playing 16."[2](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2021/sep/20/grease-everybodys-talking-about-jamie-dear-evan-hansen-films-musicals) The film's supporting cast includes [Sarah Lancashire](https://www.edgepedia.org/sarah-lancashire) as Jamie's mother Margaret, Lauren Patel as his best friend Pritti, Shobna Gulati reprising her stage role as family friend Ray, Ralph Ineson as Jamie's father, [Sharon Horgan](https://www.edgepedia.org/sharon-horgan) as teacher Miss Hedges, and [Richard E. Grant](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-e-grant).[3](https://www.screendaily.com/news/amazon-studios-acquires-everybodys-talking-about-jamie/5159793.article) • [4](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-17/everybodys-talking-about-jamie-review-film-adaptation-of-musical/100465074)
## Release
The film was produced by New Regency, Film4, and Warp Films and had been set up with Disney/20th Century Studios before Amazon Studios acquired it in May 2021 and debuted it exclusively on Prime Video worldwide on September 17, 2021.[3](https://www.screendaily.com/news/amazon-studios-acquires-everybodys-talking-about-jamie/5159793.article) The British Council database records the production year as 2020, with sales handled by [Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/walt-disney-studios-motion-pictures).[1](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/everybodyas-talking-about-jamie) Butterell described the finished film as "a love letter to Sheffield".[7](https://staging.nowthenmagazine.com/articles/jonathan-butterell-its-a-love-letter-to-sheffield-the-big-screen-adaptation-of-everybodys-talking-about-jamie)
## Reception and context
The launch pack for the musical reports an 82% score on Rotten Tomatoes for the film.[5](https://www.greenroomproductions.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/JAMIE-LAUNCH-PACK-V6-.pdf) Reviewers placed it within a wider run of stage-to-screen musical adaptations in 2021, alongside *Dear Evan Hansen*, *In the Heights*, and [Steven Spielberg](https://www.edgepedia.org/steven-spielberg)'s *West Side Story*; *Everybody's Talking About Jamie* reached the screen just four years after the stage show opened, faster than most such adaptations.[2](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2021/sep/20/grease-everybodys-talking-about-jamie-dear-evan-hansen-films-musicals) The ABC review noted that it was not the first screen musical to celebrate drag, pointing to *La Cage Aux Folles* (1983), the stage adaptation of *Priscilla: Queen of the Desert* (2006), and *Kinky Boots* (2013), but called it an uplifting and sincere contribution to the genre.[4](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-17/everybodys-talking-about-jamie-review-film-adaptation-of-musical/100465074)
## References
1. [Everybody's Talking About Jamie, British Council UK Films Database](https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/everybodyas-talking-about-jamie)
2. ["We didn't want to do a Grease": how Everybody's Talking About Jamie became a film, The Guardian (20 September 2021)](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2021/sep/20/grease-everybodys-talking-about-jamie-dear-evan-hansen-films-musicals)
3. [Amazon Studios acquires 'Everybody's Talking About Jamie', Screen Daily (20 May 2021)](https://www.screendaily.com/news/amazon-studios-acquires-everybodys-talking-about-jamie/5159793.article)
4. [Everybody's Talking About Jamie film adaptation review, ABC News (17 September 2021)](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-17/everybodys-talking-about-jamie-review-film-adaptation-of-musical/100465074)
5. [Everybody's Talking About Jamie launch pack, Greenroom Productions](https://www.greenroomproductions.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/JAMIE-LAUNCH-PACK-V6-.pdf)
6. [Everybody's Talking About Jamie drama resource pack, The School Trip Community](https://theschooltrip.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Everybodys-Talking-About-Jamie-Drama-Resource-Pack-The-School-Trip-Community.pdf)
7. [Jonathan Butterell: "It's a love letter to Sheffield", Now Then Sheffield (1 September 2021)](https://staging.nowthenmagazine.com/articles/jonathan-butterell-its-a-love-letter-to-sheffield-the-big-screen-adaptation-of-everybodys-talking-about-jamie)
8. [How We Brought 'Everybody's Talking About Jamie' to the Screen, whynow (17 September 2021)](https://whynow.co.uk/read/how-we-brought-everybodys-talking-about-jamie-to-the-screen)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Musical and music films (individual works) › Musical films of the 2010s and 2020s › Released 2021 to 2026*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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