The producers of the first and only authorized Led Zeppelin documentary, Becoming Led Zeppelin, have revealed a trailer for the film, following its first screening this past weekend at the Venice Film Festival.
Becoming Led Zeppelin premiered just days before the 53rd anniversary of the band's first ever live performance. It is the only documentary about the iconic band in which the surviving members have participated. Director Bernard MacMahon touted it this summer as a film "no one thought could be made."
You can check out the teaser via the player above!
In typical Zep fashion, the clip doesn't give away much about the film. But it does show off some of the beautiful restored footage of the band from its early years.
Guitarist Jimmy Page represented Led Zeppelin at the film's premiere and offered some details on what fans can expect when they are finally able to screen Becoming Led Zeppelin themselves.
When asked why Led Zeppelin waited until now to make a documentary, Page replied that the band had been pitched many angles over the years, but most directors wanted to concentrate on "anything but the music" with their treatment.
Becoming Led Zeppelin focuses on the most important part of Led Zeppelin's legacy, he said.
"It's everything about the music and what would make the music tick," Page explained. "And it's complete versions of songs, not just a little sample and then talking heads. This is something in a totally different genre."
The film explores how the four members' disparate backgrounds came together to create "an explosion" of creativity and music.
"[T]he momentum was absolutely — I was going a million miles an hour. That's what they've managed to capture," Page said. "...And, for me, because it was so accurate and researched so deep, I thought, 'They've really done it. They really understand what it was about.'"
Beyond the never-before-seen archival photos and restored video footage, Becoming Led Zeppelin features state-of-the-art audio transfers of the band's music and the music of those who shaped its sound. There's also a long-lost interview with late-drummer John Bonham that was discovered in Australia in an archive of 30,000 unlabelled recordings.
"The thing about John is that he is living in this film," Page said.
More details, and a worldwide release date, are expected later this year.
Photo: Redferns