Morrissey’s early life is being turned into a film by the team behind Oscar-nominated short The Voorman Problem.

The former Smiths frontman’s biopic, provisionally entitled Steven, will focus on the singer’s life “pre-Smiths”, growing up in Manchester.

The early life of Morrissey is being turned into a film by the team behind Oscar-nominated short The Voorman Problem

“It’s as much a film for non-Morrissey fans as it is for die-hard devotees,” said director Mark Gill

“But I can’t deny that this is a love letter to Steven Patrick Morrissey and the dark satanic mills of Manchester.”

Mark Gill, whose dark comedy The Voorman Problem starred Martin Freeman and Tom Hollander, said his project would be “more of a portrait than a conventional biopic”.

He will co-write the script with William Thacker. Shooting is scheduled to begin at the end of the year.

It is not known whether Morrissey, 54, has given his blessing to the project.

The singer wrote extensively about his childhood in his recent memoirs, which were published last year.

Morrissey also used his autobiography to criticize the UK legal system and the music business.