Sony Pictures Classics will open the docu-concert movie Becoming Led Zeppelin exclusively in Imax on February 7. You can watch the trailer above.
Ahead of the release, Imax theaters will hold early-access screenings in 18 markets starting February 5.
Becoming Led Zeppelin explores the origins of the iconic group and their meteoric rise in just one year against all the odds. Including psychedelic, never-before-seen performance footage, performances and music, Bernard MacMahon’s docu explores the band’s creative, musical and personal origin story. The film is told in Led Zeppelin’s own words and is the first officially sanctioned film on the group.
MacMahon said: “The cinematic power of Imax paired with the film’s authentic sound creates an immersive and transportive viewing experience letting audiences feel like they are there, in the venues with the band.”
Said writer-producer Allison McGourty: “We spent five years flying back and forth across the Atlantic scouring attics and basements in pursuit of rare and unseen film footage, photographs and music recordings. Then we transferred each piece of media with custom techniques, so that in Imax, these 55-year-old clips and music would look and sound like they came out of the lab yesterday.
“We couldn’t be more excited to be partnering with Imax and Sony Pictures Classics to bring this film to big screens for all audiences — Zeppelin fans, of course — but also all music lovers and anyone looking for an inspiring, uplifting story with amazing music,” she added.
Said Tom Bernard, co-president and co-founder of Sony Pictures Classics: “I had a mind-blowing experience seeing Led Zeppelin for the first time in August 1969 at the Texas International Pop Festival in Grapevine, Texas, and it has stayed with me ever since. This legendary group merits a spectacular North American theatrical release of this incredible film. I cannot think of a single movie that more brilliantly draws you into an artist’s story, shows you how their music was made and makes you experience it as if it was brand-new. I know it will be inspirational to young people and legacy defining for generations to come.”
Becoming Led Zeppelin is produced by McGourty and Paradise Pictures in association with Big Beach, alongside EPs Michael B Clark, Alex Turtletaub, Cynthia Heusing, David Kistenbroker, Duke Erikson, Simon Moran, and Ged Doherty. Editing is by Dan Gitlin, sound supervision is by Nick Bergh, sound restoration is by Grammy winner Peter Henderson, with archival research from Kate Griffiths and Rich Remsberg.
Here’s the new one-sheet dropped today:
Sony Pictures Classics