The Brett Morgen-directed documentary, endorsed by David Bowie’s estate, contains plenty of never-before-seen footage.
Neon has unveiled the full trailer for the upcoming David Bowie documentary, Moonage Daydreamthe first ever officially endorsed by the music legend’s estate.
Using the eponymous song as the soundtrack, the new trailer showcases the extensive collection of never-before-seen archival footage the film contains, spanning all of Bowie’s eras: from Ziggy Stardust and the Thin White Duke to his transformations radicals in the 1980s and 1990s. Through extracts from the archives, Moonage Daydream is narrated by Bowie himself.
« Throughout his career, across generations, Bowie has taught us that our differences are our strengths.Neon said of the film. With Moonage Daydream, Bowie provides us with a roadmap on how to survive the 21st century, inviting audiences to celebrate his legacy and lasting influence like never before. »
The Brett Morgen-directed documentary hits theaters (and IMAX) on September 16. Morgen previously directed the Kurt Cobain documentary, Montage of Hecket The Kid Stays in the Picture.
As Morgen previously told Rolling Stoneif it only took him a few months of digging through the archives for the Rolling Stones documentary Crossfire Hurricane and for Montage of Heck, it took him two years to work on the Bowie footage. Moreover, at the beginning of the work on Moonage DaydreamMorgen suffered a near-fatal heart attack, which forced him to be extra careful during the Covid-19 pandemic that halted production.
“I don’t want to take this lightly, but…Bowie was the best quarantine buddy anyone could have, Morgen told Rolling Stone. You know, I’m here, two years after a heart attack, and I moved into my office. So I’m on my own and trying to do this on my own…and yet I’m making a film about an artist whose specialty is how to be creative during times of isolation. It comes up in every phase, from Ziggy to Blackstar. I didn’t see anyone for the first few months of the pandemic, but I saw David’s face every day when I got up to go to work. It was almost as if it was meant to be a work of art about the pandemic. It was the only way to end it. I feel like Bowie taught me that. You know, maybe there are things in Moonage Daydream that the estate will not be happy to see listed. But they gave me the final say on the edit, and never told me that I had to include this or that song, or make any changes. From the beginning, the mindset was: this is not David’s film. He won’t see it. It’s David Bowie by Brett Morgen. Make it your movie. »
Daniel Kreps
Translated by the editor