Led Zeppelin's new documentary 'Whole Lotta Rock!' to tell their story for the first time from their perspective
This time at Cannes, music fans will get a 'Whole Lotta Rock!'
Led Zeppelin is getting the documentary treatment from the team behind 'American Epic'. They have announced that a documentary movie to mark their 50th anniversary is in post-production, featuring new interviews with Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, making it the "first and only time the band has participated" in such a project. Along with new scenes, it also contains "rare archival interviews" with late drummer John Bonham.
The documentary is billed as the "definitive telling of the birth of the world's biggest-selling rock band" and will be told solely from the band's perspective, with never-before-seen archived film footage and photographs and state-of-the-art audio transfers of the band's music. It marks the first official story with no outside voices or conjecture (as were featured in the 'Hammer of the Gods' book).
Although the release date hasn't been announced, the documentary is set to be released at Cannes. CAA is handling U.S. rights to the documentary, and Altitude is selling the film internationally. The film will traces the journeys of the four members of the 'Stairway To Heaven' rockers through the music scene of the 1960s, their meeting in the summer of 1968 and culminates in 1970 when their album 'Led Zeppelin II', which opens with 'Whole Lotta Love' knocked The Beatles off the top of the charts and made the band world famous.
MacMahon was behind the three-part 'American Epic' series, which featured the first recordings of roots music in the 1920s. MacMahon has written with Allison McGourty, edited by Dan Gitlin, with sound supervision by Nicholas Bergh, and produced by McGourty, MacMahon, Duke Erikson and Ged Doherty. Peter Saraf and Marc Turtletaub executive produce.
Page said, "When I saw everything Bernard had done both visually and sonically on the remarkable achievement that is 'American Epic', I knew he would be qualified to tell our story." Robert Plant added, "Seeing Will Shade, and so many other important early American musicians, brought to life on the big screen in 'American Epic' inspired me to contribute to a very interesting and exciting story."
Jones noted, "The time was right for us to tell our own story for the first time in our own words, and I think that this film will really bring this story to life." With that said, another documentary about one of the world's greatest rock bands is exactly what we need and is going to keep us hooked.