Sony Pictures Classics, which secured the rights to the film earlier this year, has announced that “Becoming Led Zeppelin” will be exclusively released in IMAX on February 7. In anticipation of this release in approximately 200 theaters, IMAX will host early access screenings across 18 markets on February 5. Director Bernard MacMahon expressed his excitement, stating, “The cinematic power of IMAX, combined with the film’s authentic sound, offers an immersive and transportive viewing experience, allowing audiences to feel as though they are right there in the venues with the band.”
“Becoming Led Zeppelin” delves into the band's origins through exclusive footage and insights from s: Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham. This film, termed a “hybrid docu-concert,” features rare, unseen performances from the early concert halls of Led Zeppelin's formative tours. As the title suggests, the documentary does not cover their entire career but instead zeroes in on the band’s emergence in the 1960s. A press release states that the film is “narrated in Led Zeppelin’s own words and is the first officially sanctioned documentary about the group.”
“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,” writer-producer Allison McGourty said. “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.”
A work-in-progress version of “Becoming Led Zeppelin” made its debut at the Venice Film Festival in 2021. In his review for Variety, chief film critic Owen Gleiberman commended the documentary for its “extraordinary footage,” although he felt it leaned too heavily into the band's perspective. He remarked, “While ‘Becoming Led Zeppelin’ is packed with essential material, it occasionally gives off the vibe of a Led Zeppelin infomercial.” Tom Bernard, co-president and co-founder of Sony Pictures Classics, expressed his belief that “Becoming Led Zeppelin” will serve as an “inspiration to young people and a defining legacy for generations to come.”
“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,” Bernard said. “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.”
