Led Zeppelin Documentary Set For Cinema Release
Becoming Led Zeppelin, the first official documentary focusing on the rock giants, is finally set for a theatrical release after being acquired by Sony. A date for its release has not yet been given.
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Directed by Bernard MacMahon, the “hybrid docu-concert film” (according to a press release) premiered as a work in progress at Venice Film Festival in 2021. The film has been augmented with additional footage since then. The announcement from Sony Classics says the “now completed” cut features “a brand-new sound mix (and) newly unearthed material from the archives of all four band members.”
Led Zep guitarist Jimmy Page said in a press release, “When I saw the early cut of the film premiered, at the Venice Film Festival, it was amazing. The energy of the story, and the power of the music, is phenomenal.”
“We have spent years designing this film to be experienced on the big screen with the best possible sound,” McMahon said in a statement, alluding to the wait. Added producer/co-writer Allison McGourty, “Sony Pictures Classics are the perfect partners because they are true believers in the theatrical experience and are passionate about giving the millions of Led Zeppelin fans a chance to see and hear them on the greatest screens and sound systems in the world.”
The project was first announced in 2019 and is the only documentary ever made with the band members’ full participation. Band members Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones are the only interview subjects in the film, with the late John Bonham also seen speaking via vintage clips. The documentary does not cover the band’s entire career, but focuses on the members’ early lives and the band’s formation, ending with the release of their classic album Led Zeppelin II.