The first official trailer for Brett Morgen’s forthcoming David Bowie film, Moonage Daydream, has been released and features a narration by Bowie. The film hits theaters worldwide on Sept. 16.
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Directed, written, and produced by Morgen, known for his work on the 2015 documentary Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the film is the first to be approved by the David Bowie Estate since the artist died in 2016, and features unreleased 35mm and 16mm footage from his personal archives.
“Told through sublime, kaleidoscopic, never-before-seen footage, performances, and music, the film is guided by Bowie’s narration and is the first film to be officially sanctioned by Bowie’s estate,” said the estate in a statement on the film, which will feature 48 musical tracks, comprising original studio recordings.
The team behind the movie also worked with Bowie during his lifetime, including Bowie’s longtime producer and friend Tony Visconti—who also worked with the artist on his final album, Blackstar, released days before his death in 2016—along with sound mixers Paul Massey and David Giammarco, and John Warhurst and Nina Hartstone covering sound design for the film.
Universal will release the movie internationally, and HBO will retain the cable and streaming rights to the film, named after a track off Bowie’s 1972 album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.
“That’s what excites me in these endeavors, is that I go into a film like Bowie knowing that there are 27 books about him,” said Morgen, who first met Bowie in 2007 and discussed a documentary with the artist. “So if you want to know that stuff, you can go do that. But what can I offer that you can’t get from those books? That’s generally the first question as I approach it: ‘What can I offer in this space of cinema?’”
Morgen added, “Bowie can’t be defined—he can be experienced—and there’s a reason for that. It’s like all art, if you unravel the mystery, it’s like why? Just let it be. It’s in fact, the way he writes songs was often with consonants or sounds, but the combination of those sounds create feelings of warmth or alienation or isolation or whatever the case may be.”
Photo courtesy of Neon: ‘Moonage Daydream’
