Renee Zellweger becomes Judy Garland in stunning first image from biopic

Renee Zellweger has been transformed into Wizard of Oz star Judy Garland for a new biopic.

The Bridget Jones's Diary star will portray the legendary singer and actress three decades after the Wizard of Oz lit up movie screens, as Garland prepares for a sold-out run of shows at London's The Talk of the Town nightclub in 1969.

The new movie, directed by Tony Award nominee Rupert Goold, will also chronicle the tragic star's demons at the end of her life.

In the first eerie image of Zellweger as Judy, which was released online on Monday (19Mar18), the actress sports Garland's famous brunette pixie cut and a black, off-the-shoulder floral dress as she sings into a microphone.

The film won't be the first time Renee has showed off her singing skills - she scored an Oscar nod for her role as Roxie Hart in the 2002 movie musical Chicago, and performed with Ewan McGregor on the soundtrack for their 2003 film Down With Love. She also sang folk classic This Land is Your Land in the movie My Own Love Song.

A caption to the photo, posted on the biopic's official Twitter account, reads: "#Judy starts principal photography in London today, starring Academy Award winner, Renee Zellweger as Judy Garland!"

The project also stars Rufus Sewell as Garland's then-ex-husband Sidney Luft, Michael Gambon, Jessie Buckley, Finn Wittrock, and Bella Ramsey and Gemma-Leah Devereux as the singer's daughters Lorna Luft and Liza Minnelli.

Wittrock will play Judy's fifth husband, Mickey Deans, to whom the screen and stage star was married when she died from an accidental overdose of barbiturates in 1969, aged 47. It was Deans who found her unresponsive in the bathroom of their London home.