Def Leppard’s story already has enough plot twists for a rock’n’roll epic. Now, the band is getting the big-screen treatment. Bleecker Street’s event cinema division Crosswalk has acquired North American rights to Long Live Def Leppard, the first authorized feature-length documentary about the English rock institution, with an early 2027 theatrical release planned.
Directed by Jeff Feuerzeig, whose The Devil and Daniel Johnston and Author: The JT LeRoy Story have made a specialty of excavating the stranger, more human corners of music history, the film was made in close collaboration with the band and promises never-before-seen footage and unprecedented access to its members.
That access should come in handy for a band whose history is unusually rich in both triumph and heartbreak. Born in working-class Sheffield, Def Leppard emerged onto the global stage with the ’80s classics Pyromania and Hysteria, only to face two life-altering blows: drummer Rick Allen lost his arm in a 1984 car accident, while guitarist Steve Clark died in 1991. Rather than becoming the end of the story, those tragedies became part of a remarkable second act that helped make Def Leppard one of rock’s most durable bands.
To date, the group has sold more than 110 million albums worldwide and been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Its live operation remains very much alive, too, with the band recently completing a sold-out residency at Las Vegas’ Caesars Palace.
For Feuerzeig, the project is also something of a homecoming. He first saw Def Leppard in 1981, when the then-unknown band opened for Ozzy Osbourne at Asbury Park, N.J.’s Convention Hall. “These young lads from working-class Sheffield were punching far above their weight and playing for keeps,” he recalls. “I was smitten, a fan for life.” More than four decades later, he gets to tell their story.
Feuerzeig describes Long Live Def Leppard as a “unique, heartwarming and often humorous underdog story,” while Bleecker Street CEO Kent Sanderson says the band’s story and live performances “demand to be seen and heard on the big screen.”
Crosswalk’s acquisition comes as the division builds out a slate of music-driven theatrical experiences. Following the success of the Hadestown live capture, which grossed more than $20 million domestically, the company will next bring George Michael: The Faith Tour to theaters and IMAX on Dec. 11, featuring recently rediscovered footage from the superstar’s European Faith tour.