THOUSANDS of hours of rarely seen concert and performance footage of David Bowie is being used in a new film by Brett Morgan, director of the critically acclaimed documentary “Cobain: Montage of Heck”.
Variety reports that a source close to production described it as: “neither documentary nor biography, but an immersive cinematic experience built, in part, upon thousands of hours of never-before-seen material.”
Morgen will also write, edit, and produce the project, and is eyeing an IMAX release of the film, which is yet to be given an official title. The timing of the announcement indicates a possible appearance at the upcoming 2022 Sundance Film Festival in late January.
The sound team behind the Academy Award-winning Queen biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody” are also involved, although the keepers of the Bowie estate are keen to avoid a similar biopic made about the mercurial British musician.
Earlier this month, Bowie’s widow Iman told Variety: “People say things like, ‘Your love story should be made into a movie.’ Oh, dear God, no! It’s just so private. Also, it’s a family decision. It’s always a no. We always ask each other, ‘Would he do it?’ He wouldn’t. We want to honour his decision.”
Tony Visconti, who produced multiple Bowie albums, will be the music producer on the project and has the blessing of the Bowie estate, which previously refused the use of any Bowie music in the 2020 drama “Stardust” – a film that followed Bowie’s creation of his Ziggy Stardust alter ego.
“Stardust” received negative reviews across the board, with GQ saying it was “barely a shadow of the film it had the potential to be”.
Morgen’s other work includes the 2002 film “The Kid Stays in the Picture”, about extravagant Hollywood producer Robert Evans; and “Jane”, a film that charts the story of British primatologist Jane Goodall. The latter won two Emmy Awards in 2018, including one for Morgen for directing non-fiction programming.
The US director will be hoping to purge Stardust from everyone’s memory and set the record straight by producing an authentic, respectful ode to the great artist’s life.
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