UPDATE TO BELOW STORIES....
The Led Zeppelin documentary, Becoming Led Zeppelin, wrapped up its run in IMAX theaters yesterday, and today opens in over 1000 regular theaters nationwide.
The film had the biggest debut weekend for any IMAX music exclusive released, taking in over $3-million.
Director Bernard McMahon tells us the the success -- and the reception from Zeppelin fans -- has been overwhelming.
And while it's been rumored that the film will return to IMAX theaters soon, a spokesperson for the film tells us that nothing has been confirmed yet.Becoming Led Zeppelin tells the story of the band's beginnings through their second album, Led Zeppelin II.
It features all three living members talking about growing up in England.
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Becoming Led Zeppelin, the band's officially sanctioned documentary, set a box office record this past weekend for an IMAX exclusive music release.
It took in $2.6-million in the U.S. with a $7,000+ per-theater-average, enough to place it at number-seven on the list of top box office receipts.
The film also opened in 16 other countries and territories, bringing the weekend total to $3-million.
Becoming Led Zeppelin, which tells the story of the band's beginnings through their second album, Led Zeppelin II, opens nationwide this Friday.
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The wait is over, at least for Led Zeppelin fans who live in a town that has an IMAX theater. That's because their documentary, Becoming Led Zeppelin, will open on IMAX screens in close to 200 theaters tonight.
The film tells the story of how the band came together, but, according to Allison McGourty, the film's writer and producer, it wasn't easy to make due to the lack of footage from those early days.
“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. 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.”
Becoming Led Zeppelin, which premiered in 2021 in Italy at the Venice Film Festival and in Colorado at the Telluride Film Festival, before producers added more material, takes us up to their second album, Led Zeppelin 2. Included in the film is:
- Unreleased footage of them performing at the Atlanta Pop Festival on July 5th, 1969
- Home footage from 1968 of John Bonham and his family
- "A never-before-heard interview with John Bonham,” which according to LedZepNews.com is "misleading," as "the interview heard throughout the film and included in the trailer is a 1972 Australian radio interview with Robert Plant and Bonham that has been widely available for years, including online and through vinyl bootlegs." And, in one section he's actually talking about The Beatles at Shea Stadium, but producers will make you think he's referring to Zeppelin.
The film will then open in theaters nationwide a week later on February 14th.
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Before Jimmy Page agreed to an official Led Zeppelin documentary, Becoming Led Zeppelin, he made sure filmmaker Bernard MacMahon did his homework.
MacMahon tells The Guardian that during his first meeting with Page, the guitarist invited him to Pangbourne, a village in England where he used to have a boathouse that the band rehearsed in.
He accepted the invitation along with the film's producer, Allison McGourty, who says Page "later revealed it had been a test, saying, 'If you had said no to Pangbourne we wouldn’t have done the film.’”
None of the members of the band were in Los Angeles for the January 27th premiere at the TCL Chinese Theater (previously and commonly referred to as Grauman's Chinese Theatre).
Sources tells us they boycotted the screening due to relations with MacMahon over the initial cut of the film, which premiered at the 2021 Venice Film Festival, and has since undergone a major transformation.
Becoming Led Zeppelin will open in IMAX theaters this Friday followed by theaters nationwide on February 14th.