Renee Zellweger to play Judy Garland in new movie

Renee Zellweger, left, will play actress/singer Judy Garland in a movie that begins production early next year.

Credit: Getty Images

Credit: Getty Images

Renee Zellweger, left, will play actress/singer Judy Garland in a movie that begins production early next year.

Actress Renee Zellweger will play the lead role in a movie about the final year of Judy Garland's life that will begin production in February 2018, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

"Judy" will chronicle the true story of Garland as she arrives in swinging London in 1968 to perform in a series of sellout shows, according to the Hollywood Reporter. It has been nearly 30 years since Garland shot to fame as Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz," and as she prepares to perform, she battles with management, charms musicians and reminisces with friends and fans, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Garland died on June 22, 1969, in London at the age of 47 from an overdose of barbiturates.

Zellweger, who was born two months before Garland’s death, won an Academy Award in 2003 for Best Supporting Actress in the war drama film, “Cold Mountain.”