HBO is helping bring the world even more David Bowie.
The cabler has just acquired U.S. TV rights to Francis Whately’s David Bowie: The Last Five Years, a documentary highlighting the last five years of the prolific musician’s life and career. Whatley directed and produced the BBC Films production.
Whatley’s film focuses on Bowie’s last albums The Next Day and Blackstar (an album which, according to the doc, was not intended to be his last), as well as the musical Lazarus. The film includes archival footage, audio from recording sessions for the albums, and interviews with close friends and collaborators. People featured in the doc range from producer Tony Visconti and musicians on The Next Day and Blackstar albums, to Lazarus cast members and graphic designer Jonathan Barnbrook.
“Looking at Bowie’s extraordinary creativity during the last five years of his life has allowed me to reexamine his life’s work and move beyond the simplistic view that his career was simply predicated on change,” said Whatley. “HBO, whose global output the world admires, is a great channel to get this incredible documentary out to the U.S. fans.”
Ever since Bowie’s death at the beginning of last year more and more work from the artist has slowly been uncovered and released. It was recently revealed that Bowie had worked extensively with Michael Cunningham on stage play pre-Lazarus, and Columbia Records announced it will release three song EP of new material from Bowie. Just a few days ago Bowie swept the 2017 Grammy Awards with five wins for Blackstar, including Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song, and Best Alternative Music Album.