This “highly anticipated production has generated heated debate amongst Bowie fans in the UK,” says the PR email sent with these images, a “you don’t say” quote if ever there was one – because this is a music biopic without Bowie’s actual songs.
Starring Johnny Flynn, the buttock-baring aristo* from this year’s Emma, Stardust is billed as “David before Bowie”.
The Times called Stardust “a remarkably confident, smart and resilient film with the sense of soul that its fascinating subject deserves,” giving it four stars, and Flynn won Best Actor at the recent Raindance Film Festival, and having done some very extensive research (reader, I googled) it doesn’t actually sound that batshit a premise.
We can find out for ourselves early next year: Stardust is out in UK cinemas and on digital platforms on 15 January 2021 (usual lockdown exemptions apply).
Here’s the synopsis:
One of the greatest icons in music history – but who was the young man behind the many faces? In 1971, a 24 year old David Bowie embarks on his first road trip to America with Mercury Records publicist Ron Oberman, only to be met with a world not yet ready for him. STARDUST offers a glimpse behind the curtain of the moments that inspired the creation of Bowie’s first and most memorable alter ego Ziggy Stardust, capturing the turning point that cemented his career as one of the world’s greatest cultural icons.
Directed by Gabriel Range and written by Range and Christopher Bell, the film also stars Jena Malone as Angie Bowie, and Marc Maron as Ron Oberman.
Stardust images
* I know, he’s so much more than that! But you know me and my long-lived love of alliteration.