Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

The documentary “Becoming Led Zeppelin“, which chronicles the origins and rise of the iconic English rock band, is being released on the big screen in 2021 by Sony Pictures Classics.

“Becoming Led Zeppelin” explores their origins with never-before-seen footage and commentary from the notoriously private band, consisting of Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and John Bonham. Described as a “hybrid docu-concert” movie, the doc also includes rare, unseen performances including concert halls of Led Zeppelin’s nascent tours. “Becoming Led Zeppelin,” as the title suggests, does not include the their entire career but focuses on the band’s formation in the 1960s. According to a press release, the documentary is “told in Led Zeppelin’s own words and is the first officially sanctioned film on the group.”

Director Bernard McMahon has been shaping “Becoming Led Zeppelin” for several years, poring through hours of archival footage to construct an intimate and comprehensive view of Led Zeppelin’s early days. In addition to an unearthed, never-before-heard interview with the band’s late drummer, John Bonham, the documentary features new interviews with Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and John Paul Jones, unseen footage from the band’s earliest performances in America and beyond, and much more.

“We spent five years flying back and forth across the Atlantic scouring attics and basements in pursuit of rare and unseen film footage, photographs and music recordings,” said writer-producer Allison McGourty in a press release. “Then we transferred each piece of media with custom techniques, so that in IMAX, these 55-year-old clips and music would look and sound like they came out of the lab yesterday.”

The IMAX screening of the first authorized documentary about Led Zeppelin will take place at over 200 theaters beginning on February 7th, 2025.