Posted by After the huge success of Bohemian Rhapsody, the biopic about Freddie Mercury that in 2018 broke several records at the box office, the music world is ready to bring back another resounding name for the big screen: David Bowie. One of the most celebrated music legends of recent years, a name able to get everyone agree, for the impact of his music and his role in the mechanisms of entertainment.
The film is titled Stardust and will tell the story of first American tour of David Bowie, in 1971, the one that will soon inspire him for the creation of Ziggy Stardust. Filming is already completed, we are now in post-production, and the release will probably happen in 2020. The actor who will play David Bowie is Johnny Flynn, musician and actor already known for playing Albert Einstein in National Geographic’s show Genius, as well as appearing in Netflix series Lovesick and in the recent movie Beast.
Among the other members of the cast, Jena Malone (known for Donnie Darko, Nocturnal Animals, The Hunger Games and Into the Wild) will play Bowie’s first wife and Marc Maron (who appeared in Glow) as the publicist of his record company. The screenplay is written by Christopher Bell and the director will be Gabriel Range, who has already directed several films including Death of a President, about the assassination of George Bush.
The news triggered some polemics when it was announced: Duncan Jones, David Bowie’s son, said clearly that he has no intention to grant the rights to use his father’s music. And without that concession, of course the movie cannot contain any Bowie’s song. This forced the production to focus on a crucial point of Bowie’s life, and it’s not strictly connected to his music. The soundtrack will contain iconic songs of that period, like John Lennon’s Nowhere Boy and Joy Division’s Control, but also “songs Bowie interpreted, and new, original compositions by Johnny Flynn.
No trailer nor release date available yet, but the countdown is already started: soon we will see the next big phenomenon of music-centric cinema.