A new trailer for the upcoming feature-length documentary “Becoming Led Zeppelin” has been shown in US cinemas since October 24, and it emerged online on November 2 after a fan released a copy of it.
LedZepNews has teamed up with Led Zeppelin video expert LedZepFilm to analyse the new trailer shot by shot, breaking down what it reveals about the documentary including the glimpses of unseen footage it contains.
Did we get anything wrong in our breakdown or miss anything out? You can contact us on ledzepnews@gmail.com
The trailer begins with the film’s PG-13 rating in the US and then shows the logo for the film’s US distributor Sony Pictures Classics. As this point, the soundtrack of “Whole Lotta Love” begins.
Shot 1: Jimmy Page on TV in 1958
The first shot we see in the trailer is a 14-year-old Jimmy Page performing on television as part of The J.G. Skiffle Group on an episode of the show “All Your Own” that was originally broadcast on April 6, 1958.
Shot 2: A photo of Robert Plant in school
The second shot in the trailer is a zoomed in image of Robert Plant’s grammar school photo, showing him as a child.
Shot 3: John Paul Jones in a recording studio
The third shot from the trailer shows a young John Paul Jones playing bass in a recording studio while wearing sunglasses. It originates from a 1966 documentary about Simon Napier-Bell (thanks to scottzep73 at Royal Orleans for the information here).
Shot 4: A young John Bonham playing drums
And to complete the set, we then have a brief bit of colour footage of what appears to be a young John Bonham playing drums at home. This seems to be previously unseen footage.
Shot 5: Previously unseen video of John Bonham and his family
Next up we have more unseen footage, this time showing John Bonham at home with his son Jason Bonham and his wife Pat. This appears to have been filmed in 1968.
Shot 6: Danish TV footage from 1969
We now have our first footage of Led Zeppelin performing. This black and white clip is part of the existing footage from the band’s appearance on Danish television channel Danmarks Radio on March 17, 1969.
Shot 7: Led Zeppelin performing on ‘Tous En Scene’ in 1969
Next up we have more existing footage, this time showing Led Zeppelin performing on the French show “Tous En Scene” on June 19, 1969.
Shot 8: A new interview with Robert Plant
All three surviving members of Led Zeppelin gave new interviews for the film in which they recall their early lives and the formation of Led Zeppelin. This shot gives us our first look at these interviews, with Plant sat in a stately home setting.
Shot 9: Back to Danish TV footage from 1969
Now we’re back to that Danish TV footage from 1969, this time seeing a shot of Jones from that performance as we hear his new interview.
Shot 10: A new interview with John Paul Jones
Now we see Jones’ newly filmed interview. He appears to be in the same building and on a similar chair to Plant’s interview footage.
Shot 11: Upgraded footage of Led Zeppelin miming to ‘Communication Breakdown’ on Swedish TV in 1969
Most Led Zeppelin fans will know the famous video of Led Zeppelin miming to “Communication Breakdown” for Swedish television on March 14, 1969 that was released on the band’s DVD. This film includes upgraded footage of this performance, and shot 11 is our first look at it in this trailer.
Shot 12: A new interview with Jimmy Page
Now we get our first look at the new interview with Page that was filmed for this documentary. He seems to be in the same building as Plant and Jones’ interviews, but his chair is slightly different.
Shot 13: Led Zeppelin performing at the Royal Albert Hall in 1970
Next up we have a clearly identifiable clip of Bonham playing the drums during Led Zeppelin’s performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London on January 9, 1970. This footage has been widely available since Led Zeppelin released it on the band’s DVD.
Shot 14: Previously unseen Atlanta Pop Festival 1969 footage
This is entirely unseen footage showing Bonham playing the drums during Led Zeppelin’s performance at the Atlanta Pop Festival on July 5, 1969.
Shot 15: Female audience members
Next up we see a brief glimpse of two women, seemingly watching a performance by Led Zeppelin. This could be from Led Zeppelin’s March 18, 1969 “Supershow” performance, but we haven’t been able to match it.
Shot 16: A female audience member
Next up we have a shot focusing on a lone female audience member. She’s wearing a bold red outfit and it looks like she’s outside.
Shot 17: Back to the Swedish TV ‘Communication Breakdown’ 1969 footage
Now we’re back to seeing Led Zeppelin mime “Communication Breakdown” on Swedish TV in 1969.
Shot 18: More Swedish TV ‘Communication Breakdown’ 1969 footage (but this time in pink)
We get another shot of that 1969 Swedish television performance, this time with a pink tint.
Shot 19: Led Zeppelin performing at the Texas Pop Festival in 1969
Shot 19 gives us a very brief glimpse of Led Zeppelin performing at the Texas Pop Festival on August 31, 1969. The footage has previously circulated, but the documentary doesn’t have any watermarks on it so it’s an upgrade on what is currently available for fans to see.
Shot 20: Outtakes from ‘Tous En Scene’ in 1969
Shot 20 comes from the unused outtake footage for ‘Tous En Scene’ in 1969. It shows a close-up of Bonham’s drums.
Shot 21: Glyn Johns working for Pink Floyd
This footage of producer Glyn Johns shows him on January 11th, 1967 when a film crew captured Pink Floyd at Sound Techniques Studio in London.
Shot 22: Another outtake from ‘Tous En Scene’ in 1969
We then get a brief overhead glimpse of Plant during Led Zeppelin’s 1969 “Tous En Scene” performance. This was part of the outtakes for the show.
Shot 23: Back to the new Robert Plant interview
We’re then back to the newly filmed interview with Plant.
Shot 24: The Hindenburg disaster
Now we see some black and white footage of the May 6, 1937 Hindenburg disaster, something that will be familiar from the cover of Led Zeppelin’s debut album.
Shot 25: Swedish TV ‘Communication Breakdown’ 1969 footage
The quick glimpse of Bonham twirling his drumstick as he plays comes from Led Zeppelin’s Swedish TV miming of “Communication Breakdown” in 1969.
Shot 26: Back to the new John Paul Jones interview
We then see Jones, still sat in a big wooden chair.
Shot 27: A Boeing 707 flying over the Golden Gate bridge
A Pan Am Boeing 707 can be seen flying over the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. The shot is undated in its Getty Images entry.
Shot 28: Led Zeppelin performing at the Fillmore East in New York in 1969
This shot of Page playing his Fender Telecaster with a violin bow was filmed at the Fillmore East in New York on January 31, 1969.
The trailer overlays it with a marquee advertising Led Zeppelin’s January 1969 Grande Ballroom shows in Detroit, Michigan.
Shot 29: More Royal Albert Hall 1970
We then see another glimpse of Led Zeppelin’s January 9, 1970 Royal Albert Hall performance, this time showing Page and Plant on stage.
Shot 30: Some audience members
We see a man and two women, seemingly enjoying a Led Zeppelin performance. We don’t know which performance, though.
Shot 31: Two female audience members
More audience members, this time colour footage of two blonde women.
Shot 32: A single female audience member
We then get a brief colour shot of a single woman
Shot 33: Supershow 1969 again
This colour clip of Page playing his Fender Telecaster with a violin bow originates from Led Zeppelin’s March 18, 1969 “Supershow” performance.
Shot 34: Back to the new Jimmy Page interview
He still has a different chair to the other two.
Shot 35: Royal Albert Hall 1970
Now we get a look at Plant from the 1970 Royal Albert Hall show.
Shot 36: Possibly unseen 1969 photos of Led Zeppelin
This shot seems to be three different black and white photos of Led Zeppelin photographed in 1969 by Ron Raffaelli. We’ve checked and we haven’t seen these images before so they may be unseen. A contact sheet showing photos from the same shoot was published in Led Zeppelin’s 2018 book “Led Zeppelin By Led Zeppelin”.
Shot 37: Supershow 1969 (and a bunch of people dancing)
Footage from the Supershow 1969 video is interspersed here with a bunch of clips of people dancing.
Shot 38: The ‘Tous En Scene’ soundcheck
This shot of Bonham playing the drums in a red jumper comes from Led Zeppelin’s soundcheck for the band’s “Tous En Scene” appearance.
Shot 39: More Supershow 1969
We’re back to Supershow 1969 again with Plant in his bold yellow shirt.
Shot 40: Some people dancing in a field
We see some colour footage of some people dancing in a field, presumably at a music festival.
Shot 41: A smoking man and woman
Now we see colour footage of a man smoking next to a woman.
Shot 41: Vietnam
No film montage about the 1960s is complete without footage of the Vietnam war.
Shot 42: An Apollo 11 ticker tape parade
The film’s working title was “Apollo”, LedZepNews previously revealed. So of course we see a ticker tape parade for the Apollo 11 astronauts.
Shot 43: The Apollo 11 rocket taking off
To hammer home the metaphor, we now see footage of Apollo 11 taking off.
Shots 44, 45: Supershow 1969
The shots of Plant and Bonham here come from Led Zeppelin’s Supershow 1969 appearance.
Shot 45: ‘Tous En Scene’ outtakes
This shot looking down on Bonham playing the drums is an outtake from the “Tous En Scene” footage
Shot 46: Bath Festival 1969
This clip showing Page performing on stage with Led Zeppelin while wearing a bright shirt comes from the band’s June 28, 1969 Bath Festival performance. The band would play at the festival again the next year.
Shot 47: Laurel Pop Festival 1969
This colour video of Plant originates from Tim Pace’s footage of Led Zeppelin performing at the Laurel Pop Festival on July 11, 1969. This footage first emerged as part of the 2013 film “Led Zeppelin Played Here” but was removed from YouTube following a copyright claim by the filmmakers behind “Becoming Led Zeppelin”.
Shot 48: Swedish TV 1969 (but in pink)
We’re back to Swedish TV 1969 footage again! This time it’s in pink again.
Shot 49: Previously unseen Atlanta Pop Festival 1969
The shot showing Plant and Page, with Page wearing a white hat, is part of previously unseen footage of Led Zeppelin’s performance at the Atlanta Pop Festival on July 5, 1969.
Shot 50: More unseen Atlanta Pop Festival 1969
We get another look at this unseen footage, this time showing just Page in his hat.
Shot 51: Royal Albert Hall 1970
The next shot goes forward in time to Led Zeppelin’s 1970 Royal Albert Hall show, with people right up at the front of the stage.
Shot 52: Bonham peforming during Texas Pop Festival in 1969
We get another look at Bonham during Led Zeppelin’s Texas Pop Festival show in 1969. There still isn’t any watermark on this upgraded footage.
Shot 53: More Texas Pop Festival 1969
Now we see Page and Plant on stage at the same festival.
Shot 54: A festival crowd
After learning that this is the first authorised documentary on the band, we see a crowd at an outdoor festival. That appears to originate from this footage.
Shot 55: Royal Albert Hall 1970
We’re back to the Royal Albert Hall in 1970 seeing Page on stage.
Shot 56: More Royal Albert Hall 1970
We’re seeing more of the same show, this time another look at the crowd up at the front of the stage.
Shot 57: Danish TV 1969
We’re back to that black and white Danish TV footage from 1969 now with another look at Jones playing bass.
Shot 58: A rapid zoom on a crowd
It’s a crowd, they’re in colour, and we’re zooming in on them.
Shot 59: Royal Albert Hall 1970
Now we’re back in London seeing Bonham playing the drums at the Royal Albert Hall in 1970.
Shot 60: Miming on Swedish TV in 1969 (but in pink)
The filmmakers really like tinting things pink. This time, we see footage of the band miming to “Communication Breakdown” on Swedish TV in 1969 with a pink tint.
Shot 61: Royal Albert Hall 1970
This time we get a closer look at Page on stage.
Shot 62: The Royal Albert Hall audience
Now we see the audience at the Royal Albert Hall enjoying the Led Zeppelin show in 1970.
Shot 63: Texas Pop Festival (but pink)
We get more upgraded Texas Pop Festival 1969 footage, but this has some groovy pink effects added to it.
Shot 64: The film’s logo
Now we see the film’s new logo which was unveiled last month.
Shot 65: A mirrored black and white photo of Led Zeppelin
After learning that the film contains a never-before-heard interview with Bonham (it doesn’t), we see a mirrored version of a famous early photo of Led Zeppelin standing by some elevators.
Shots 66, 67, 68: A Supershow 1969 supercut
We then see three quick glimpses of the Supershow 1969 footage.
Shot 69: It’s coming out in 2025
The final shot of the trailer is an announcement that the film is being released in 2025, including in IMAX cinemas. LedZepNews previously reported that a May 16 release date is looking likely.
so may 2025 sees the becoming of led zeppelin a few months short of 45 years since the band retired looking at what we got it seems the film concludes in 1970 there seems a lot of amateur footage in it and the pro footage weve seem 90 per cent we all know there is some fine bath festival footage out there but theres no audio to it shame they could have not dudded some music to it it would have made a fine inclusion to the film maybe there is some copyright issues to that ive never had very high hopes for this film since people were walking out at the premier and as been heavy redited but now its here hopefully led zed news in the coming days and weeks can shied more light on whats in the film other than that for me theres not much to get excited about