New teaser unveiled for David Bowie documentary ‘Moonage Daydream’

A new teaser trailer has arrived for the forthcoming David Bowie documentary, ‘Moonage Daydream’ – you can see it below.

The new film is directed by Brett Morgen, who also helmed the acclaimed Kurt Cobain chronicle ‘Montage of Heck’. His new project has been mined from a treasure trove of archive materials that the US filmmaker was presented with by Bowie’s estate in 2017. The film premieres at the Cannes Film Festival tonight (May 23), and a taste of what’s in store for attendees has been offered up in the preview clip, which shows Bowie taking the stage during his Ziggy Stardust era, as well as performing live much later in his storied career.

The movie’s sound crew includes Tony Visconti, Bowie’s long-time producer who worked with him all the way up to 2013’s ‘The Next Day’ and his 2016 swansong, ‘Blackstar’. Morgen sifted through in excess of five million assets from the estate archive as he put together ‘Moonage Daydream’, with four years spent on the assembly of the footage and a further 18 months on the movie’s soundscape and colour palette. It is confirmed to air on HBO and stream HBO Max in the US in 2023, which would hint at a Sky broadcast in the UK, given the close ties between the two networks.

A press release promises “sublime, kaleidoscopic imagery, personal archived footage, [and] unseen performances,” with the film set to be “anchored” by Bowie’s music and lyrics. The arrival of the film is timely on multiple fronts; it follows on from a celebration back in January of Bowie’s eclectic screen career by the British Film Institute, with its Southbank base in London hosting screenings of the likes of ‘Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me’, ‘Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence’ and ‘Christiane F.’

Meanwhile, ‘The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars’ turns 50 this year, and the occasion will be marked by a new reissue of the legendary record that will see it be made available as both an old-style half-speed LP and as a picture disc boasting a shot of Bowie from the album’s cover shoot. The teaser for ‘Moonage Daydream’ features footage of the singer in full Stardust alter-ego flow. He retired the character in 1973 after assuming the role nightly on an epic 18-month tour; the reissue arrives on June 17, one day after the album’s 50th birthday.