HBO to bring David Bowie: The Last Five Years documentary to fans

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

I still remember exactly where I was the moment I heard that David Bowie had passed away. I was in Vancouver, sipping a bourbon old fashioned in a hotel lobby, and waiting for transport to the set of WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES. After hearing the unfortunate news, my whole morning had turned upside down. I immediately reconfigured my ipod to host a series of Bowie's albums, and left that playlist on repeat for days to come. Coincidentally, during my set visit interview sessions, I had a great chat with producer Dylan Clark about the iconic rock god and his many achievements both in music as well as in film.

Today, it's been announced that HBO has acquired the U.S. television rights to DAVID BOWIE: THE LAST FIVE YEARS. Directed and produced by Francis Whately, the project is a documentary that focuses on the final portion of Bowie's life – specifically when he recorded the albums The Next Day, Blackstar, and co-wrote the stage musical, Lazarus. Previously, Whately directed DAVID BOWIE: FIVE YEARS in 2013, which chronicled five previous eras of the entertainer's enigmatic career – from Ziggy Stardust all the way to his Berlin period.

DAVID BOWIE: THE LAST FIVE YEARS will feature rare interviews with the spaceman himself, in addition to archival footage and audio from The Next Day and Blackstar recording sessions. In talking up the project, HBO stated that the documentary would present viewers with an "unprecedented access to Bowie’s closest friends and artistic collaborators” and being “a tribute to one of the greatest rock icons of all time."

In commenting about his own affinity for making the film, Whately stated that, "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. HBO, whose global output the world admires, is a great channel to get this incredible documentary out to the U.S. fans."

Included in the interview portion of the documentary will be Tony Visconti, Bowie's long-time producer; Robert Fox, the producer of the Lazarus stage musical, cast members from that show, and a wealth of musicians who worked on Bowie's two final studio albums.

While I'm not always one to check out documentaries, I'm adding this one to my list. I might not know a whole lot about David Bowie, but I like what I've heard throughout the years. He's always struck me as one of the last remaining and true rock gods of modern times, and I know for certain that his influence will be sorely missed for decades to come. 

DAVID BOWIE: THE LAST FIVE YEARS is set to be presented by HBO Documentary Films, and is a BBC Films production. Phil Dolling will executively produce the film. As of yet there's no release date slated for the film's release, though I would imagine we'll be seeing it some time later this year.