‘Becoming Led Zeppelin’: First-Ever Authorized Doc About Band Acquired by Sony Pictures Classics

Five years after the first-ever authorized documentary about Led Zeppelin was first announced — and nearly three years after it premiered at the Venice Film Festival — the long-awaited film is finally preparing to take flight to the big screen.

Sony Pictures Classics announced Wednesday that it has acquired Becoming Led Zeppelin, a “hybrid docu-concert film” directed by Bernard MacMahon and made with the full cooperation of the band.

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The documentary features new interviews with Zeppelin’s surviving member Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, who each granted filmmakers unprecedented access to their archives, including never-before-heard interviews with late drummer John Bonham.

Becoming Led Zeppelin also boasts unseen concert footage from the band, including their early performances at the Fillmore West in January 1969, the Atlanta Pop Festival in July 1969, and the Texas Pop Festival in August 1969; a snippet of an early “Good Times Bad Times” from the documentary was released back in 2021.

The project, co-written by MacMahon and Allison McGourty in 2019, and two years later a rough-cut was screened at the Venice Film Festival. “When I saw the early cut of the film premiered, at the Venice Film Festival, it was amazing,” Page said in a new statement. “The energy of the story, and the power of the music, is phenomenal.”

MacMahon added, “We have spent years designing this film to be experienced on the big screen with the best possible sound.” No release date has yet been scheduled.

Sony Pictures Classics said in a statement, “We loved this film from the first moment we saw it. It has been nothing short of extraordinary to witness the organic process Bernard, Allison, and their team have taken to sculpt what has turned out to be THE definitive film on the origins of Led Zeppelin. We are honored to be working with such committed artists who have crafted a film that immediately transports you right into the energy and excitement of that time. It seamlessly weaves astonishing performances, archival footage, and interviews through superb editing and impeccable sound design. This film is a grand theatrical experience, and we are very proud to be bringing it to the world.”

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