Led Zeppelin’s official documentary film is 137 minutes long

(PBS)

“Becoming Led Zeppelin,” the upcoming official documentary film about the formation of Led Zeppelin, has a runtime of 137 minutes according to an online listing for an industry screening.

The documentary, which was announced in 2019, is now complete and will be screened in an out-of-competition section of the Venice International Film Festival which will take place on September 1-11.

Led Zeppelin’s official Twitter account has posted a teaser video for the film and its September debut screening:

A page on the film festival website lists the film’s runtime as 137 minutes – two hours and 17 minutes. That’s slightly shorter than the film was listed as last year.

In 2020, we reported that the documentary had the working title “Apollo” and had a runtime of two hours and 27 minutes.

Bernard MacMahon, the film’s director, said in a statement earlier this week that “with Becoming Led Zeppelin my goal was to make a documentary that looks and feels like a musical. I wanted to weave together the four diverse stories of the band members before and after they formed their group with large sections of their story advanced using only music and imagery and to contextualize the music with the locations where it was created and the world events that inspired it.”

“I used only original prints and negatives, with over 70,000 frames of footage manually restored, and devised fantasia sequences, inspired by Singin’ In The Rain, layering unseen performance footage with montages of posters, tickets and travel to create a visual sense of the freneticism of their early career,” he continued.

The development of the film has seen the filmmakers track down rare footage of Led Zeppelin’s band members and the band itself.

Back in March LedZepNews reported that footage of Led Zeppelin performing at the Laurel Pop Festival in Maryland on July 11, 1969 had been available to watch on YouTube for more than a year but was removed because the filmmakers producing the documentary are planning to include it.

Footage of The Yardbirds performing with Jimmy Page at the Village Theater in New York on August 25, 1967 has also been deleted from the internet because it may be in the new documentary.

Online rumours have also suggested that the film production company has attempted to obtain high quality footage of Page’s April 23, 1970 solo appearance on The Julie Felix Show.

Allison McGourty, a writer and producer of the film, told The Los Angeles Times last year that her company had struggled to obtain some of the footage needed for the documentary, which is currently in post-production.

“It’s been difficult to get all the footage they need. The pandemic shuttered European archive houses for months, and now they must rush before the houses shutter again,” the newspaper reported.

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26 Comments on "Led Zeppelin’s official documentary film is 137 minutes long"

  1. A TRUE ZEPPELIN FAN WOULD NOT MIND IF IT WAS 2 DAYS, HONESTLY, HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO GET IN 2 HRS , ALL THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS A GROUP, BUT TO BREAK EACH MEMBER DOWN ,WELL, YOUD BETTER PACK A LUNCH FOR THAT ONE…………..😊

  2. Just when I thought I had all things Zeppelin, I gotta see this doc and eventually own it. No regrets, it’s only money, and they are Led Zeppelin.

  3. Woody Campbell | 7th August 2021 at 6:17 am | Reply

    This is a wonderful thing; the elusive nature of the band/the mystique, surely intrigues many including myself hugely. I feel I’ve done more than my due diligence and I’m very excited for new aspects I’ll likely learn of. There has not been a band like them since.

  4. LaChelle Parker | 7th August 2021 at 10:07 am | Reply

    Thank you so much for the way you touched my life in so many ways! Love ya!

  5. Francis Hughes | 7th August 2021 at 10:57 am | Reply

    WOW, I think this is endorsed by all the band, it is certainly endorsed by Jimmy, which means that it must be really good, i can’t wait.

  6. Can’t wait for this film, been hoping and now it’s here.

  7. It’s really not that long at all when you think about it, I know i for one, will be glued to the screen!!!,, can’t wait, should promote it with a tour to Au s tralia, we’d absolutely sure to be able 2 go to a led exp concert, Oooo MMMGGGG, tickets would sell so fast, I’d have no hope of getting tickets anyway ahe,(yr all thinking the same thing ahe?)

  8. Omg omg omg omg omg old school diehard major fan needs led exp concert 2 tic 1 more off bucket list..peezzz

  9. Still I am and always will be one of their biggest fans I grew up on them and still listen to them this day

  10. Zeus Arambula | 7th August 2021 at 6:19 pm | Reply

    Already can’t wait to see this!!

  11. How do I get a copy of “Becoming Led Zepplin “

  12. Will it be shown on Netflix?

  13. What can the put in this documentary that I haven’t already read since 1974(when i got into the band) and they say rare footage( which as a collector,I have probably seen) with exception of the bath festival footage. For their fiftieth they put out a book ( what the hell it’s not the 1990s) Jimmy remaster all those great boots that are out their and all the soundboards you have and release some live concerts and please dont remaster the albums again.

  14. I was five years old and my older brothers took me in 1973 to MSG in New York to see Led Zeppelin and since then it’s still in my mind and never will be forgotten..Hey Jimmy, how can you play something so difficult and make it look so easy?The best band ever put together

  15. I’ve been a lifelong Zeppelin fan since hearing Led Zeppelin II in my brother in law’s Chevy Nova in the 70s (on 8-track). It’s not often that we get something to be excited about these days. It always seems everything’s been uncovered, and the well has run dry.

    I’ve heard Page mention film footage and audio recordings that have yet to see the light of day. I’ve heard film of Boston ’73 exists. I’ve heard there is higher quality audio/video from Seattle ’77.

    I hope this documentary features some of that stuff. And I hope the DVD release features a treasure trove of bonuses.

  16. will this be shown on tv?

  17. LOVE THE BAND SO MUCH,I AM EAGER TO WATCH ANY NEW FOOTAGE ON THEM,WONDERFUL SONGS,TIMES,PRODUCTION, SO MANY THINGS DEEPLY ROOTED ON SO MANY PEOPLES LIFES AND HEARTS,ABSOLUTELY LOVE ALL ZEPPELIN,THANKS GUYS FOR HAVING CHANGED MY LIFE FOREVER,AND MODIFY MY PERCEPTION OF MUSIC SINCE MY EARKLY TEENS.

  18. Roy JOHN Watson | 10th August 2021 at 12:33 pm | Reply

    it will be great when it comes out on dvd should be a big seller

  19. I CAN NOT WAIT!! I HAVE BEEN A FAN FOR ALMOST 50 YRS. & HAVE A LG. COLLECTION, NICE THAT SOMETHING NEW IS COMING !! HURRY!!

  20. The longer the better!!!

  21. If I am to die my only wish would to ever meet Jimmy Page and share all the reasons I have Loved this band for 60 years. I was so happy the got the Kennedy Center Honors. I would give my life for 5 minutes of Jimmy’s time.

  22. My all time NO # 1 Band turn 13 in 1971 the rest is HISTORY the 70’s NOTHING BUT GET THE LED OUT????? IT”S BEEN ALONG TIME SINCE A ROCK N ROLL!!!!

  23. My all time NO # 1 Band turn 13 in 1971 the rest is HISTORY the 70’s NOTHING BUT GET THE LED OUT????? IT”S BEEN ALONG TIME SINCE A ROCK N ROLL!!!!

  24. I’m almost 70. Been a LZ fan from the time they came out in ’68. I’ve been waiting to see this new documentary now for about 2 yrs. Its it ever going to be released? I can’t find anything about it. Come on. I don’t want to die before seeing this docu. about “the greatest band to ever grace the stage.” Everyone has opinions, and mine is no better or worse than anyone elses. But I think Led Zeppelin was the greatest band ever. And page was the greatest guitarist EVER. And for me, I think LZ changed music forever. No one was doing what this band did back in 1968. And how many bands will say that LZ is the influence that had every guy on the planet wanting to be Jimmy Page. So much so, music stores to this day does not allow anyone to play Stairway to Heaven in their stores. Because of how every kid that came in tried to play that song, badly. So it was outlawed, forever. lol For 12 yrs until John Bonham died, LZ was the greatest ticket in the WORLD. And they played, the world. I wonder at times, how many more great songs could have come from this band. I miss them, every day. I still play Zep songs on a daily basis. Love em. Ronnie Jarvis

  25. Whatever happened to this production? It just seems to have vanished.

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