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RankFilm (origin)DistributorFeb 7-9 grossTotalWeek 1 Dog Man (US) Universal £3.2m £3.2m 1 2 A Complete Unknown (US) Disney £831,546 £10m 4 3 Mufasa: The Lion King (US) Disney £700,071 £30.3m 8 4 Macbeth: David Tennant And Cush Jumbo (UK) Trafalgar £680,840 £1.5m 1 5 September 5 (Ger-us) Paramount £517,000 £639,000 1

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.24

Universal animation Dog Man topped the UK-Ireland box office with a £3.2m opening weekend.

The film, based on Dav Pilkey’s children’s graphic novel series of the same name, played in 610 locations, taking a strong £5,347 location average.

That putsDog Man ahead of animation comparisons The Smurfs 2 (a lesser £3.2m in 2013), Trolls Band Together (£3.1m in 2023) and...

Jim Henson Idea Man Image: Disney Over the past few weeks, Disney has released two new documentaries, both on high-profile, crowd-pleasing subjects. For The Beach Boys, directors Frank Marshall and Thom Zimny interviewed and reunited all the remaining members of the groundbreaking ‘60s surf band, which is no easy feat...

Jim Henson Idea ManImage: Disney

Over the past few weeks, Disney has released two new documentaries, both on high-profile, crowd-pleasing subjects. For The Beach Boys, directors Frank Marshall and Thom Zimny interviewed and reunited all the remaining members of the groundbreaking ‘60s surf band, which is no easy feat considering...

For anybody who is even remotely familiar with the world of hip-hop, Run Dmc is a name that needs no introduction. Not only did Joseph "Rev Run" Simmons, Darryl "Dmc" McDaniels, and Jason "Jam Master Jay" Mitzell help bring hip-hop to the mainstream, but they became one of the most influential names in music, period. The rock doc has always been a successful medium, from innovative concert movies like The Last Waltz and Stop Making Sense, to more recent but still ever-innovative documentaries like Cobain: Montage of Heck and The Beatles: Get Back. In fact, with the success of streaming services, the genre has arguably become more popular than ever.

Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project centers on the poet, with Giovanni herself on screen. Co-director Joe Brewster said he did not want to do a traditional documentary or biopic, and drew inspiration from documentaries on James Baldwin and Kurt Cobain.

“We actually pitched it as I Am Not Your Negro meets Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck,” Brewster said at Deadline’s Contenders Film: Documentary.

Co-director Michèle Stephenson added that she wanted the film to center on Giovanni, rather than other talking heads reflecting on her impact.

“Some of our visual vision and story vision came out of a bit of frustration with watching certain biographical documentaries,” Stephenson said. “We wanted to center her and her work and see everything through her voice to get a sense of how the process, the artistic poetry-making process happened.”

Brewster and Stephenson also got creative when Giovanni’s memory was limited,...

True, the title of writer-director Brett Morgen’s documentary about David Bowie, Moonage Daydream, refers to the song of the same name from Bowie’s classic 1972 album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. But it could also be said to describe the feeling that Morgen inspires with the impressionistic way that he renders the life and art of the glam-rock icon on screen. Even more so than in Cobain: Montage of Heck, his 2015 film about Kurt Cobain, Morgen is less interested in factual biography than in eliciting a sense of the man as an artist and personality.

The means by which Morgen accomplishes his goal are startling to behold. For the film, the David Bowie Estate gave Morgen access to a wealth of rare recordings, films, drawings, and journals, and he hasn’t shied away from showing off that access on screen. Moonage Daydream...

This story about Brett Morgen and “Moonage Daydream” first appeared in the Down to the Wire: Comedy/Variety/Reality/Nonfiction issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.

Three years into the editing of his challenging David Bowie film “Moonage Daydream,” Brett Morgen was pretty sure he was in big trouble. He’d run out of money for the production, and he was working toward the nebulous idea of creating what he would later call “an expression of Bowie rather than an explanation of Bowie,” which meant he could pretty much go in any direction at any time, both visually and aurally.

“I thought I was off the rails, that I was deceiving myself that this will make sense,” Morgen said. “I’m not exaggerating to say that three years into the edit, no one had seen a frame—no one in my office, no financiers, no assistant editor. It was all in my head.

Four TV directors will reveal secrets behind their projects when they join Gold Derby’s special “Meet the Experts” Q&a event with 2023 Emmy Awards nominees. They will participate in two video discussions to premiere on Tuesday, August 15, at 6:00 p.m. Pt; 9:00 p.m. Et. We’ll have a one-on-one with our senior editor Ray Richmond and a roundtable chat with all of the group together.

RSVP today to our entire ongoing contenders panel series by clicking here to book your free reservation. We’ll send you a reminder a few minutes before the start of the show.

Fleishman Is in Trouble (FX)

Synopsis: Toby Fleishman knew what to expect when he and his wife of almost 15 years separated: weekends and every other holiday with the kids, some residual bitterness, and the occasional moment of tension in their co-parenting negotiations.

Bio: Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton are Emmy...

Director-writer-editor Brett Morgen’s David Bowie documentary Moonage Daydream is certainly unlike any musician-centered film you’ve seen before. The movie plays out almost as if the viewer is watching through a kaleidoscope, a fever dream of footage and soundscapes from the Bowie archives as well as from films and artworks the artist referenced in his storied career. Nominated for four Emmys this year (directing, writing, editing and sound editing), the director sat down with THR to discuss how he arrived on Bowie as a subject and his artistic process.

What draws you to a documentary subject at the outset?

As I reflect back over the years, I’m definitely drawn toward wildly creative people who live life on their own terms. That seems to be the one consistent link between Robert Evans, Jane Goodall, Kurt Cobain and David Bowie. On a more superficial level, when I’m approaching a subject,...

Clockwise from left: Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry (Apple TV+), Gaga: Five Foot Two (Netflix), Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind (HBO), Pamela, A Love Story (Netflix), Cobain: Montage Of Heck (HBO)Graphic: AVClub

Celebrity documentaries run the gamut. There are hagiographies, which all but deify their subjects.

Brett Morgen has signed with Entertainment 360.

Morgen is is considered one of the most influential and acclaimed nonfiction filmmakers of the past 25 years, with credits that include Moonage Daydream, Jane, Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, Crossfire Hurricane and The Kid Stays in the Picture.

Moonage Daydream premiered to critical acclaim at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival and went on to become the highest-grossing nonfiction film this decade. The film was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Documentary and received WGA, Cas, Mpse and Critics Choice awards. 

In 2018, Morgen won the Primetime Emmy Award for Best Director for his work on Jane. In addition, he has been awarded DGA, PGA, Ace, Mpse, WGA and IDA awards for Outstanding Documentary. In addition, he has received eight individual Emmy nominations, two Peabody Awards, two BAFTA nominations, three Ace Eddie nominations, and an Oscar nomination in 2000 for the documentary On the Ropes. ...

New details were revealed about the life and legacy of David Bowie in the documentary Moonage Daydream. The feature documentary premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, was released in theaters in September of that year, and recently came to HBO Max at the end of April 2023. The film was written, directed, and edited by Brett Morgen who also created the outstanding Kurt Cobain HBO documentary Cobain: Montage of Heck in 2015.

Moonage Daydream runs at two hours and 15 minutes in length. It incorporates a mixture of both popular and previously unseen David Bowie interviews and concert footage to create a seamlessly fluid compilation of Bowie's personal life and rise to stardom. The exclusive footage and music are cleverly interwoven to create a thoughtful encapsulation of the mythic and aesthetic qualities of David Bowie. Other Bowie documentaries are often full of interviews with other people who knew the subject or worked closely with them.

It’s a slow week for new releases, both in theaters and at home. “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret” deserves to be an Oscar contender — let’s get Rachel McAdams‘ supporting-actress campaign started pronto — but you’ll have to leave the couch to see that one. Without venturing to the multiplex, you can catch two favorites from the Oscars’ most recent shortlists and two new movies with very different sensibilities.

This contender to watch this week: “Moonage Daydream”

“David Bowie: The Last Five Years,” released in 2017, focused on the final chapter in the glam rocker’s storied career. “Moonage Daydream” is about what came before. The film made last year’s Oscar shortlist but was left out when nominations were announced, surprising many who thought this kaleidoscopic profile would be a shoo-in for Best Documentary Feature. Brett Morgan, who also directed the stylish “Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck,...

Photograph by Courtesy of David Bowie Estate/HBO HBO Documentary Films’ Moonage Daydream, from Academy Award(R)-nominated and Emmy(R)-winning filmmaker Brett Morgen (HBO’s “Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck”), debuts Saturday, April 29 (8:00-10:15 p.m. Et/Pt) on HBO and will be available to stream on HBO Max. Moonage Daydream illuminates the life and genius of David Bowie, one of the most prolific and influential artists of our time. Guided by Bowie’s own narration and told through sublime, kaleidoscopic, never-before-seen footage, performances, and music, this feature length experiential cinematic odyssey explores his creative, musical, and spiritual journey. In 2018, Morgen was granted unprecedented access to Bowie’s archives encompassing a lifetime of materials, including an extensive catalog of unseen footage and personal collection of his own art and poetry. He spent four years assembling the film and another 18 months designing the soundscape, animations, and color...

HBO Documentary Films’ Moonage Daydream, from Academy Award®-nominated and Emmy®-winning filmmaker Brett Morgen (HBO’s “Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck”), debuts Saturday, April 29 (8:00-10:15 p.m. Et/Pt) on HBO and will be available to stream on HBO Max.

Moonage Daydream illuminates the life and genius of David Bowie, one of the most prolific and influential artists of our time. Guided by Bowie’s own narration and told through sublime, kaleidoscopic, never-before-seen footage, performances, and music, this feature length experiential cinematic odyssey explores his creative, musical, and spiritual journey.

In 2018, Morgen was granted unprecedented access to Bowie’s archives encompassing a lifetime of materials, including an extensive catalog of unseen footage and personal collection of his own art and poetry. He spent four years assembling the film and another 18 months designing the soundscape, animations, and color palette while working with Bowie’s long-time collaborator, friend, and...

"Undone" is impressive for many reasons, but its ability to combine wildly different genres might be the biggest. On the one hand, there's the stark depiction of listless 20-year-old Alma Winograd-Diaz (Rosa Salazar) and her family drama, which makes the show so emotionally affecting. On the other, there's the wild time and space-bending sci-fi adventure featuring the ghost of her late father, Jacob Winograd (Bob Odenkirk). In the show's first season, after a car accident gives Alma the ability to traverse space and time, she embarks on a multi-dimensional journey to try to solve the mystery of her father's death.

To help pull off such an ambitiously innovative project, "BoJack Horseman" alums Raphael Bob-Waksberg and Kate Purdy used rotoscoping — an animation style created by tracing over real footage. This same technique was used by Richard Linklater in his movies "Waking Life" and "A Scanner Darkly," and was chosen for "Undone" by Dutch animator Hisko Hulsing,...

Back in May, Moonage Daydream – the hypnotic, experimental documentary abstraction that encapsulates David Bowie’s life, art, and philosophy – blew the top off of an already buzzing Cannes Film Festival. Brett Morgen, the film’s veteran director, writer, editor, and producer, has made a career out of expressive, atypical documentaries, like The Kid Stays in the Picture and Cobain: Montage of Heck.

A student of Brechtian philosophy, he is a searcher (or debunker) of truth as much as a filmmaker, the former through the latter, the latter simply a medium of choice. And if you know anything about Bowie, you know how wildly and wonderfully subjective truth can be, a perfect challenge for Morgen to capture the infinite artist post-mortem.

On the day of its nationwide IMAX release, I sat down with him to talk Moonage Daydream – style, history, approach, and where it all began.

—

Brett Morgen: It was 2007. I...

Universal’s ‘Moonage Daydream’ and Sony’s ‘Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song’ both out.

Two modern music icons face off at UK-Ireland cinemas this weekend, with the release of David Bowie documentary Moonage Daydream and Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song.

Opening in 50 sites, most of which are Imax, Universal’s Moonage Daydream is a journey through Bowie’s creative and musical output. The film, which launched as an out-of-competition Midnight Screening in Cannes this May, is written, directed, edited and produced by US filmmaker Brett Morgen.

Moonage Daydream has the backing of the David Bowie estate...

Brett Morgen went through a lot to make “Moonage Daydream.” It takes certain amount of obsession to capture on film the essence of the life of David Bowie, the shapeshifting music visionary, artist and actor. For Morgen, known for his work exploring another singular artist with “Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck,” as well as “The Kid Stays in the Picture” and “Jane,” crafting the first authorized Bowie documentary was a nearly seven-year process. Until it was time to create the encompassing sound mix with help from Bowie collaborator Tony Visconti, he worked mostly alone, weathering both the pandemic and a serious heart attack.

“Moonage Daydream” is like no other music documentary audiences have seen before. With no talking heads or Bowie 101 facts, it’s geared towards super-fans and possibly the Bowie-curious, with sonically-enhanced remixes of more than 40 of his hits and lesser-played songs interlaced with never-before-seen images of his artwork,...

“Moonage Daydream” was reviewed by TheWrap out of the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.

The David Bowie documentary “Moonage Daydream” begins with a quote in which Bowie talks about Friedrich Nietzsche’s late 19th-century proclamation that God is dead and that humans must become gods themselves. It’s an appropriate enough opening, considering that Bowie’s most famous character, Ziggy Stardust, flirted with Nietzsche-style notions of man and Superman.

But a more telling quote comes later in Brett Morgen’s film, when Bowie talks about his fascination with “an artistic language that deals with fragments and chaos.” Because if there was ever a documentary that embraces the idea of fragments and chaos as organizing principles, it’s “Moonage Daydream,” which abandons all thought of straightforward narrative in favor of an immersive and purposefully mysterious and chaotic Bowie experience.

Or is “purposefully chaotic” a contradiction in terms? Regardless, “Moonage Daydream” is a bracing,...

By Glenn Dunks

Moonage Daydream is unlike any other Brett Morgen film. If you expected the same stately warmth that imbued Jane or even a tragic rock and roll epitaph like Cobain: Montage of Heck, then you would be wrong. This is evident immediately into its 140-minute runtime, beginning as it does with not just any David Bowie song, but the Pet Shop Boys remix of “Hallo Spaceboy” from 1996. I love a bit of trolling the rock crowd, so I was instantly on board. The mere inclusion of this song—to say nothing of the kaleidoscopic, tie-dyed montage that accompanies it—keyed me in that Morgen wasn’t just going to do what a Bowie fan may expect from a biography documentary.

These high-octane opening minutes don’t exactly let up, either. Moonage Daydream is a work of documentary that is almost as exhausting as it is exhilarating.

The legendary musician David Bowie, whom we sadly lost in 2016 at the age of 69, is being celebrated in the new film "Moonage Daydream." It will debut exclusively in IMAX, and take us through Bowie's career with performances, never-before-seen footage, and Bowie's narration (via archived interviews). "Moonage Daydream" joins the slate of recent films about the lives of famous musicians, such as "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Rocketman," but this time through a documentary lens. 

"Moonage Daydream" comes from writer/director/producer Brett Morgen and is officially sanctioned by the artist's estate. The film is named after Bowie's song "Moonage...

The post Moonage Daydream Trailer: Revisit the Life of Musical Genius David Bowie appeared first on /Film.

Documentarian Brett Morgen has tangled with rock legends before, with “Cobain: Montage of Heck” and Rolling Stones doc “Crossfire Hurricane,” but when he landed the plum assignment of directing the first officially sanctioned David Bowie documentary feature, he had no idea what he was in for. Finishing the movie took five years of absorbing Bowie’s massive archive by himself, tracking down hi-res footage and music stems suitable for IMAX and Dolby Atmos showings, and editing all alone during a pandemic. No wonder Morgen suffered a heart attack and wound up in a coma.

He insists that it was all for the best and turned him from a child-man into an adult — and that Bowie’s philosophical musings on art and life enabled him to complete the movie. To chart Bowie’s creative, musical, and spiritual journey, Morgen dug into a kaleidoscope of never-before-seen 16 and 35mm performance footage and movies,...

Through all his hazy cosmic jive, David Bowie was always presented as a Starman, waiting in the sky for the right moment to blow our minds. Times have caught up with the legendary Thin White Duke, and one of the signs is a stellar alignment. If the stars look different, it is because there was an unforeseen conjunction. Neon Film’s immersive documentary Moonage Daydream premiered at Cannes this week as did Showtime’s The Man Who Fell to Earth’s newest episode, entitled “Moonage Daydream.”

In the series, K. Faraday (Chiwetel Ejiofor), is the home planet help requested by Thomas Jerome Newton, the character Bowie played in Nicholas Roeg’s 1976 film. The drone protégé of the mysterious Anthean scientist suffers an existential crisis and finds inspiration through a base human instinct. Moonage Daydream documents Bowie’s career with the most human touch. It is narrated by Bowie, himself, through...

“Moonage Daydream” feels, first and foremost, like a montage of media criticism encompassing the entire 20th century, all of it laser-focused through a single pinhole: the dynamic David Bowie. , the documentary by Brett Morgen (“Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck”) is about feeling your way through a chaotic world with Ziggy Stardust as your anchor. It’s a fitting encapsulation of the many “he taught me it was Ok to be weird” sentiments in the wake of Bowie’s death. But despite the quasi-religiousness of such refrains, the film by no means avoids painting the late pop icon as distinctly human, whether through his insecurities, or the way his perspective on love would eventually evolve.

The doc features a treasure trove of archival footage and zero contemporary talking heads. It is immediately positioned as an exploration of Bowie’s rise to global fame in the early ’70s, told from the perspective of that same era,...

Nonfiction filmmaker Brett Morgen has taken on icons in his previous films including Jane Goodall (“Jane”), the Rolling Stones (“Crossfire Hurricane”) and Kurt Cobain (“Cobain: Montage of Heck”). With “Moonage Daydream,” he turns his lens on David Bowie. It may be Morgen’s biggest project yet — he combed through 5 million assets that the Bowie estate shared with him as well as “everything on YouTube,” Morgen said. He used Bowie performance footage, interview clips, movie clips, stills, artworks (including Bowie’s own paintings) and other visuals including animation to paint an impressionist portrait of an artist and his art.

The Neon film premieres out of competition in a midnight slot May 23 at Cannes.

Morgen met with Bowie in 2007 to discuss a “hybrid nonfiction film and the timing wasn’t right on it,” he said. In 2016, he went back to the estate and said he was interested in creating an “experiential IMAX movie,...

David Bowie reflects on his “Golden Years” in the first teaser for the highly anticipated unprecedented look at the late singer’s life.

Documentary “Moonage Daydream” premieres at Cannes and is set for a September theatrical release. Written, directed, and produced by “Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck” director Brett Morgen, “Moonage” spans Bowie’s 54-year career with never-before-seen footage of the icon.

The film includes 40 remastered songs and its soundtrack is crafted in 12.0, 7.1, and 5.1 stems for an immersive sonic experience tailored to specific theaters. Morgen spent two years selecting footage from the Bowie archive in 16mm and 35mm prints, marking “Moonage” as the first film ever sanctioned by the Bowie estate with access to personal archives.

The teaser trailer provides a voiceover by Bowie, with the star reflecting on life itself. Neon distributes the feature.

“My hope with this film is audiences find the same comfort and joy and hope...

In the first teaser trailer for Moonage Daydream — the first documentary film about David Bowie to be sanctioned by the artist’s estate — director Brett Morgen wields rare and never-before-seen footage to present the film’s quintessential goal of capturing the illustrious performer.

“All people, no matter who they are, all wish they’d appreciated life more,” Bowie says in a voiceover in the trailer. “It’s what you do in life that’s important, not how much time you have – or what you wished you’d done.”

Arriving in theaters in September,...

“Moonage Daydream,” the first documentary sanctioned by David Bowie’s estate, has released a teaser trailer timed with the film’s world premiere at Cannes Film Festival.

Taking its title from the music icon’s song of the same name, the feature draws from unlimited access to Bowie’s archives – including 48 tracks – to tell the story of his life, legacy and artistic achievements in his own words.

The teaser opens with a camera following Bowie backstage as he prepares for a performance. Donning a glittery striped jacket with pointed shoulders and his signature red mullet, Bowie is instantly recognizable despite his back facing the camera.

Also Read:

‘Corsage’ With Vicky Krieps Acquired by IFC Films Out of Cannes

“Questions have arisen, such as who is he, what is he, where did he come from, is he a creature of a foreign power?” someone asks in voiceover. “Is he a creep?...

The Cannes Docs sidebar of the Cannes Film Market has announced the lineup of its annual Doc Day, which takes place on May 24.

The day will open with a morning session dedicated to Acid Cannes 2022 title “Polaris,” described by organizers as “a creative and human journey interwoven with uncompromising, gentle and bold filmmaking by a woman filmmaker, set against the backdrop of the Arctic.” Entitled “A Producing Journey,” the session will bring together Marion Schmidt, the co-founder of Cannes Docs partner Dae (Documentary Association of Europe), director Ainara Vera and producers Clara Vuillermoz (Point du Jour – Les Films du Balibari) and Emile Hertling Péronard (Ánorâk Film).

The first half of the day will also feature a discussion between Polish director and screenwriter Agnieszka Holland, president of the 2022 l’Œil d’or Jury and president of the European Film Academy, and Pauline Durand-Vialle, CEO of the Federation of European Film Directors.

David Cronenberg dared CinemaCon attendees to sleep well tonight.

The director, an architect of the body horror genre with “A History of Violence,” “Dead Ringers” and “The Fly,” made his first-ever trip to Las Vegas to showcase his next grisly film “Crimes of the Future,” testing the stomachs of movie theater owners across the nation.

“It seems an appropriate place to launch our attack on the world with ‘Crimes of the Future,'” Cronenberg told the crowd at Caesars Palace in reference to Sin City.

Though Cronenberg says he started writing the screenplay 20 years ago, Neon, the film’s distributor, called “Crimes of the Future” an “evolution of David’s work: past, present and future.” Without detailing any specifics, it will contain “key references to his previous films.”

As for the never-before-seen footage, it begins with a man who has several sets of ears on his head and concludes as...

Earlier this month, Neon and HBO acquired the David Bowie documentary "Moonage Daydream," a Bowie-estate-approved film directed by "Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck" filmmaker Brett Morgen. Today, the Neon team showed first footage from the new project at CinemaCon 2022 in Las Vegas, and the /Film team was there to witness it. We've also learned that in addition to directing, Morgen is credited as the writer, producer, and sole editor on the upcoming project.

Described by Neon as a "sonic and visual extravaganza," Morgen's documentary sounds more like a cosmic experience than a traditional musician's biography. The team...

The post Moonage Daydream Footage Reaction: The David Bowie Doc is a 'Sonic and Visual Extravaganza' [CinemaCon 2022] appeared first on /Film.

Six years since starting, Neon has a prime spot at CinemaCon this year immediately following the State of the Industry speeches from the respective MPA and NATO chief officers, during which the distribution company unleashed first looks at several upcoming titles that are already garnering awards buzz.

Brett Morgen’s highly anticipated David Bowie documentary “Moonage Daydream” teased more details ahead of its Cannes premiere. The film utilizes over 500 assets to provide unfettered access to Bowie’s personal archives with the collaboration of his estate. Anchored by Bowie’s own insights, the documentary includes never-before-seen concert and other footage.

A clip of Bowie talking about the impression that society was creating the 21st century in 1971 grounds the theme of the simultaneously futuristic and nostalgic perspective the “Changes” singer mused on.

Bill Gerber, the executive producer of “Moonage Daydream” and former Warner Bros. president, called the film a “sonic visual extravaganza...

While the likes of Spider-Man and Black Adam may get the headlines, CinemaCon continued its efforts to highlight all forms of movies with Tuesday’s presentation by indie distributor Neon, whose team led by distribution chief Elissa Federoff showcased a pair of films that defined the phrase “shock and awe.”

On the “shock” side was “Crimes of the Future,” a disturbing return by “Videodrome” filmmaker David Cronenberg to the body horror genre that he is considered to be the master of. Cronenberg himself appeared on the CinemaCon stage to present what he jokingly called the start of his “attack on the world.”

Starring Viggo Mortensen, Kristen Stewart and Lea Seydoux, the provocative film takes place in a distant future where environmental degradation has begun to affect human evolution, causing the body to grow extra organs. Avant-garde artist Saul Tenser (Mortensen) uses his extra organs to sell out shows in which...

Gather 'round David Bowie fans and documentary lovers, because we've got news — and depending on how you feel about estate sanctioned docs, the film "Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck," and the rock doc industry, it's either good news or bad. Neon and HBO have announced via the professional carrier pigeon that is a press release that they have acquired Brett Morgen's upcoming Bowie doc "Moonage Daydream," which has been in production for the last five years and is the only Bowie doc to be sanctioned by the David Bowie estate. Interesting.

If the combination of Morgen's name and "Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck" is lighting up some...

The post David Bowie Documentary Moonage Daydream Acquired by Neon and HBO appeared first on /Film.

“Moonage Daydream,” a David Bowie historical film featuring a bounty of previously unreleased footage and helmed by Brett Morgen, the director behind “Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck,” “Jane” and “The Kid Stays in the Picture,” will be distributed in the U.S. by Neon and internationally by Universal Pictures Content Group, with a streaming premiere on HBO and HBO Max in the spring of 2023. Variety broke the news of the project last November.

While no theatrical release date has been announced for the film — the first to be officially sanctioned by Bowie’s estate — sources tell Variety that it is likely to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival next month, the lineup for which is scheduled to be announced Thursday.

While the announcement sheds little light on what the film will actually be, it does note that Morgen was given “unfiltered access to Bowie’s personal archives and … unearthed hundreds...

Neon has landed the rights to release “Moonage Daydream,” a new feature film, concert documentary and “experiential cinematic odyssey” that follows David Bowie’s life and musical career and is the first sanctioned by Bowie’s estate.

Brett Morgen is directing the film that is near completion and will feature Bowie’s own narration. Neon will release “Moonage Daydream” domestically, while Universal Pictures Content Group will release the film internationally, and HBO Documentary Films has North American rights for streaming and cable in spring 2023.

The film was designed from conception as a unique cinematic experience and will also be released in IMAX in select markets. The film will also be released in partnership with Public Road Productions, BMG, Live Nation Productions, and HBO Documentary Films.

“Moonage Daydream” illuminates the life and genius of David Bowie with a project that shows how Bowie himself worked across several disciplines, not just music and film but also dance,...

Production took five years since late musician’s estate granted access to archives in 2017.

Neon, Universal Pictures Content Group and Imax will release Brett Morgen’s David Bowie documentary Moonage Daydream, which is nearing completion after five years of production.

Neon will distribute the full-length feature in the US, Universal Pictures Content Group will release the film internationally, and HBO Documentary Films has taken North American rights for streaming and cable in spring 2023. Imax will distribute the film in select market.

BMG and Live Nation Productions co-financed Moonage Daydream, which takes its name from the track on Bowie’s fifth...

We've yet to have a tried and true David Bowie documentary that really gets into the nitty-gritty of who Ziggy Stardust was, on and off-stage. Now, we may get just that from Brett Morgan, the filmmaker behind "Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck."

According to Variety, the director — who is also known for his work on "Jane," "The Runaways," and "The Kid Stays in the Picture" — has been "finalizing" a "top-secret" Bowie project, which is based on "thousands of hours of rare performance footage" of the legendary rock star, for the "last four years."...

The post It's a Good Day For Bowie Fans as Brett Morgan Announces a Top Secret Project on the Iconic Musician appeared first on /Film.

A top-secret David Bowie project will soon see the light of day from the mind of Brett Morgen, the director behind “Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck,” “Jane,” and “The Kid Stays in the Picture.” Per Variety, the hybrid film is based on thousands of hours of rarely seen concert and performance footage of Ziggy, who died from liver cancer in January 2016.

Sources told the publication that Morgen has been working on the Bowie film — which has yet to announce a title — for the past four years. A source also said the film is “neither documentary nor biography, but an immersive cinematic experience built, in part, upon thousands of hours of never before seen material.” That’s not unlike Morgen’s 2015 “Montage of Heck,” which blended more traditional documentary elements with expressionistic collages and artwork to explore the life and times of Nirvana frontman Cobain.

Reportedly, the Bowie project will also...

Brett Morgen, the freewheeling director behind “Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck,” “Jane” and “The Kid Stays in the Picture,” is finalizing a top-secret David Bowie project based on thousands of hours of rare performance footage of the musician, most of it previously uncirculated, sources confirm to Variety.

Morgen has been at work on the Bowie film, for which an official title has not been disclosed, for the last four years. A source close to the production cryptically describes it as “neither documentary nor biography, but an immersive cinematic experience built, in part, upon thousands of hours of never before seen material.”

Sources say live concert footage plays a central role in the film, and that Morgen is eyeing an IMAX release. The filmmaker wears a number of hats on the project, taking on editing, writing and producing duties, in addition to directing.

A Sundance Film Festival premiere in late January could be in the cards.

In “Zappa,” actor-turned-documentary filmmaker Alex Winter has constructed an elaborate deep-dive into the sprawling career of Frank Zappa in his own words. The movie, now available in theaters and VOD, follows the iconic rock star through every stage of his life, from his youth to the last few years of life. Winter knows a thing or two about rock star mythologizing from the other side of his career, as the actor who plays Bill in the beloved “Bill and Ted” movies. But “Zappa” represents a departure from his other recent documentary projects, which have dealt with internet culture and online conspiracies.

Instead, the movie uses a complex assemblage of archival materials (including Zappa’s own home movies) to create a fascinating new window into the human behind the star. To that end, “Zappa” has much in common with “Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck,” filmmaker Brett Morgen’s 2015 portrait of the ill-fated Nirvana frontman,...

On Nov. 23, Gold Derby will debut a major new video series featuring lively discussions with filmmakers competing in the same awards race. First up: Best Documentary. Our senior editor Joyce Eng will conduct one-on-one interviews with each contender, followed by a group discussion involving all participants in a lively chat about their differing views of what makes a documentary great and how these filmmakers cope with the gravest challenges of their careers.

RSVP today by clicking here to reserve your booking for the premiere of our special new video series. . This one-hour event will debut on Monday, November 23, at 5:00 p.m. Pt. 8:00 p.m. Et. Sign up now and we will reserve your reservation and then follow up later by sending you a reminder a few hours before the show begins.

This “Meet the Btl Experts” panel welcomes the following 2021 Oscar contenders:

“All In: The Fight for Democracy...

Former Universal Pictures executive Amit Dey has been named Svp & Head of Valence Media’s new non-fiction division at Mrc.

In the newly formed role, Dey will be responsible for developing, producing and managing all documentary content for film and TV, as well as working with sales and distribution partners across all documentary projects.

He will collaborate across Valence Media divisions which include Mrc Film, Mrc Television, dick clark productions and Billboard Media Group, and he will report to Valence Media co-CEOs Modi Wiczyk and Asif Satchu.

Dey will lead efforts on the first feature length documentary from Baby Driver director Edgar Wright, about California music duo, Sparks. The project is currently in production. Baby Driver director Wright shot footage of the band at a 2018 London concert.

Dey will also be across Mrc’s previously announced doc partnership with UK outfit Fulwell 73 (Carpool Karaoke). Valence previously produced the Hulu documentary Fyre Fraud.

“I’ve never met anyone more comfortable in their own skin,” describes director Brett Morgen of the most captivating thing about Dr. Jane Goodall, the subject of his Emmy nominated documentary, “Jane,” in our recent webchat (watch the video above). “She’s so committed to making this world a better place for us — not for her. And I think that’s why she has an almost saint-like quality to her. It’s that selflessness and that determination.” Morgen adds that at first, Dr. Goodall didn’t want to have anything to do with the documentary but all that changed once she viewed the finished product.

SEEEmmys 2018 exclusive: NatGeo categories for ‘Genius: Picasso,’ ‘The Long Road Home’ and more

Morgen’s acclaimed NatGeo documentary centers on Dr. Goodall’s research with chimpanzees in Gombe that’s set to recently unearthed footage shot by Hugo van Lawick during her first visit to...

Paul Schrader drama set for release in multiple foreign territories.

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (Uphe) Content Group will handle the international roll -out of Paul Schrader’s First Reformed, which received its UK premiere at Sundance London last week.

Ethan Hawke stars as a tormented priest in the film, which co-stars Amanda Seyfried and Cedric the Entertainer.

Uphe Content Group, which specialises in multi-platform releasing on a worldwide basis, will oversee the release of the film in multiple foreign territories - and will look to give it theatrical play where appropriate. This follows on from the film’s Us launch through A24 in mid-May.

“Jane,” Brett Morgen’s popular documentary about primatologist Jane Goodall, was so lauded and applauded that most Oscar experts predicted that it would land an Oscar nomination, if not win. Instead, it never made the cut.

This happens with the Academy documentary branch. While its voter ranks have expanded by more than 50 percent in the last three years, from 204 to 320 members, it’s still a relatively insular group with strong ideas about what makes a great documentary. They tend to be slow to recognize innovation. They long frowned on dramatic re-enactments, strong personalities, and rousing scores, overlooking early Michael Moore entry “Roger and Me” and Errol Morris’ “The Thin Blue Line,” finally rewarding them with Oscars for anti-gun screed “Bowling for Columbine” and the Robert McNamara profile “The Fog of War,” respectively.

Moore returned to the Oscar fray for “Sicko,” but Morris was never nominated again. The doc branch nominated...

“Jane,” Brett Morgen’s popular documentary about primatologist Jane Goodall, was so lauded and applauded that most Oscar experts predicted that it would land an Oscar nomination, if not win. Instead, it never made the cut.

This happens with the Academy documentary branch. While its voter ranks have expanded by more than 50 percent in the last three years, from 204 to 320 members, it’s still a relatively insular group with strong ideas about what makes a great documentary. They tend to be slow to recognize innovation. They long frowned on dramatic re-enactments, strong personalities, and rousing scores, overlooking early Michael Moore entry “Roger and Me” and Errol Morris’ “The Thin Blue Line,” finally rewarding them with Oscars for anti-gun screed “Bowling for Columbine” and the Robert McNamara profile “The Fog of War,” respectively.

Read More:Is Errol Morris’s ‘Wormwood’ a Documentary? Netflix Says Yes, Oscars Say No

Moore returned to the Oscar fray for “Sicko,...

If ever there was a contemporary entertainment icon that exposed the heart of darkness that lies deep within our celebrity culture, it was Amy Winehouse. Like Kurt Cobain before her, whose own tragic demise and fraught relationship with the media was recently depicted in HBO’s excellent Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, Amy Winehouse was a performer […]

The post ‘Amy’ Movie Review: Harrowing Documentary Depicts Amy Winehouse’s Tragic Fate appeared first on uInterview.

As expected, "Amy" (A24) dominated the new openings, with the best limited per theater average of any film in almost three months. Unlike two other recent festival-premiered pop-star documentaries ("Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck" and "What Happened Miss Simone?") A24 launched "Amy" in theaters only, so its performance was crucial. The holiday calendar distorted the results, with a much bigger response on opening Friday (plus preview shows) than Saturday. "Amy" should boast similar appeal as the music doc expands, giving a badly needed boost to specialized theaters as most other recent openings have not held well. "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" went wider this weekend, and continues to struggle to find traction at projected levels. As has been the case recently, films aimed at an older audience are having an easier time. Opening "Amy" (A24) - Criticwire: A- ; Metacritic: 83; Festivals include: Cannes, Sydney,...