Sixteen months after it was announced, the first look at Stardust, the David Bowie-inspired drama, has surfaced — in the form of a scene preview.
Stardust is set in the early 1970s before Bowie’s career took off. It also highlights the musician’s first visit to the U.S. and the events that inspired him to create his world-renowned alter-ego, Ziggy Stardust.
The Gabriel Range-directed movie was scheduled to premiere at Tribeca Festival later this week, however, as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was postponed and ended up being distributed to critics via a private online portal earlier this week by distribution company Salon Pictures, according to Variety.
The one-minute, 20 second snippet sees Johnny Flynn (Beast) as the late British icon as he discusses his upcoming third studio album, The Man Who Sold the World (1970), with Ron Oberman — a Mercury Records publicist — who is portrayed by comedian Marc Maron.
In the clip, a 24-year-old Bowie expresses doubt in the pending release after the commercial failure of his first two records.
“Tiny said that Mercury had doubts about the record,” Bowie says to Oberman in the scene. “But he persuaded them to throw a lot of resources behind the tour.”
“Uh-huh, well, managers say a lot of things don’t they?” replies the publicist. “Look, the label gave me very little money, but I think we can make it work. The label’s got doubts, that’s all… but I don’t,” he adds.
Oberman continues: “I think you’re going to be the biggest goddamned star in America. Seriously, man, this is a great record. It’s just that no one knows how to sell you in America. They just don’t care enough.”
“And you do?” asks Bowie sarcastically.
“Hell yeah I do,” says Maron. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m a f–cking minority of one, but all it takes is one believer to change the world, right? You believe in yourself, don’t you? Because if you don’t… we’re really f–ked,” he concludes before the scene ends.
In January 2019, when Stardust was first announced, Bowie’s 48-year-old son, Duncan Jones, took to Twitter criticizing it.
Jones revealed that while he has no involvement with the Salon Pictures project, the company hasn’t ever reached out to the Bowie estate — let alone asked for permission to use the late legend’s music.
“If you want to see a biopic without his music or the family’s blessing, then that’s up to the audience,” he wrote.
Since then, Range and Salon Pictures have emphasized that Stardust is not a biopic, but a movie simply inspired by the much-beloved rock legend.
“I set out to make a film about what makes someone become an artist; what actually drives them to make their art,” said Range in a statement provided to Variety.
He continued: “That someone is David Bowie, a man we’re used to thinking about as the star he became, or as one of his alter egos: Ziggy Stardust; Aladdin Zane; The Thin White Duke. Someone I only ever saw at a great distance, behind a mask; a godlike, alien presence. Even in his perfectly choreographed death, he didn’t seem like a regular human being.”
Bowie tragically passed away after a lengthy battle with liver cancer. He died at his New York City home on Jan. 10, 2016.
As of this writing, it’s unclear when Stardust will be released officially.