Becoming Led Zeppelin is a 2025 documentary film directed by Bernard MacMahon which charts the formation and early years of Led Zeppelin.[4] The film is an independent production made with the full co-operation of the band[5] and represents the first time Led Zeppelin have agreed to participate in a biographical documentary.[6] A work-in-progress was screened at the 78thVenice Film Festival in 2021[7][8] to a 10-minute standing ovation.[9]
The film premiered in the United Kingdom, United States and Canada on February 7, 2025.[10][11][12]
Plot
Becoming Led Zeppelin traces the journeys of Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, John Bonham and Robert Plant through their childhoods in post-war Britain, the music scene of the 1960s including Shirley Bassey performing the Goldfinger theme with Zeppelin members playing on it, their meeting in the summer of 1968 and meteoric ascendancy throughout 1969, culminating in 1970 when they become the No. 1 band in the world.[13] The story is told exclusively by the band members with the late John Bonham represented by previously unheard audio interviews. The film features full performances, never-before-seen footage of the band's early U.S. and British concerts[14] and unseen material from the band's personal archives.[15]
Background
Becoming Led Zeppelin was researched and written by Bernard MacMahon with screenwriter and producer Allison McGourty.[16] According to Jimmy Page, he turned down a lot of "pretty miserable" pitches over the years to make a documentary about Led Zeppelin. However he received a deeply-researched proposal focusing almost exclusively on the music and chronicling the band's birth in 1968 and its early rise. The film was developed on a storyboard and presented to the band members in a leather-bound book. Page commented, "When we first met, we were probably a little nervous of each other. But the conduit was the storyboard", adding "And I thought they've really got it, they really understand what it was about".[17]
John Paul Jones gave his blessing, saying "the time was right for us to tell our own story for the first time in our own words" and that the time was right for the film to be made.[18] Robert Plant praised MacMahon's work on American Epic, the Emmy-nominated 2017 documentary that chronicled the early American roots music recordings of the 1920s and cited it as a reason for agreeing to participate in the film, "Seeing Will Shade, and so many other important early American musicians, brought to life on the big screen in American Epic inspired me to contribute to a very interesting and exciting story".[19]
The film was announced in 2019, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the band forming.[20]
Release
In May 2024, Sony Pictures Classics acquired distribution rights to the film in North and Latin America, the Middle East, Southeast Asia (excluding Japan) and the Benelux.[7] In June 2024 it was announced Tohokushinsha Film had acquired the rights to Japan, Madman Entertainment for Australia and New Zealand, NonStop for Scandinavia and the Baltics, Cinemart for Czechia and Slovakia, and MCF for former Yugoslavia.[13] On December 5, 2024, a teaser trailer was released, and it was announced the film would premiere in IMAX in the United States and Canada on February 7, 2025.[10][11] In the UK Sony Pictures announced an exclusive IMAX release for February 5, 2025 with a general UK cinema release commencing February 7, 2025.[21] The film would then have a wider release in the United States on February 14, 2025.[22]
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 83% of 35 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7/10.The website's consensus reads: "Presenting the origins of Led Zeppelin with laser focus, this doc isn't the definitive document on the band but blows the roof off with its killer soundtrack."[23]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 64 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[24]
Variety noted that the work-in-progress screening at the Venice Film Festival "premiered to bursts of rapturous applause across its 137-minute runtime".[25]Rolling Stone described the rough cut of the film as "revelatory",[26] and The Hollywood Reporter described it as "an eye-opening delight", adding that sections of the rough cut "could be cut without damaging the film".[27] Steve Pond of The Wrap described the rough cut as "potent as hell and as excessive as Physical Graffiti, the 1975 album whose excess was pretty much inseparable from its power".[28]
Box office
As of February 26, 2025, Becoming Led Zeppelin has grossed $9.3 million worldwide, including $7.7 million in the United States.[2][3]
See also
Celebration Day– 2012 Led Zeppelin concert film directed by Dick Carruthers
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