David Bowie’s Biopic Won’t Contain Any Music — Wait What?!

This Is Totally Unexpected

David Bowie had one of the most colorful personalities in rock ‘n roll. He was fearless in adapting several alter egos and his musical evolution was nothing short of stunning. Over three years after his death, he still remains a prominent figure in rock ‘n roll and pop culture.

And so when we heard the announcement of his biopic called Stardust, we were ecstatic. But as it turns out, the film won’t contain any of his music. This is more than baffling actually because his music was a huge part of his life. He dedicated so many years creating and re-creating himself and churning out iconic songs in the process. Can you imagine watching Bohemian Rhapsody without any Queen tracks?

Bowie’s son Duncan Jones recently revealed that the movie didn’t get any rights for Bowie’s extensive catalogue which means they can’t use his songs. As a filmmaker himself, Jones isn’t exactly happy about the biopic and he took to Twitter to express his displeasure.

I think this journalist needs to do some investigative reporting. Pretty certain nobody has been granted music rights for ANY biopic… I would know.

— Duncan Jones (@ManMadeMoon) January 31, 2019

In a Twitter exchange with Mark Clark who tweeted a link to the news that Johnny Flynn was slated to play David Bowie in the film, Jones had the following comments:

“I think this journalist needs to do some investigative reporting. Pretty certain nobody has been granted music rights for ANY biopic… I would know.

“Im not saying this movie is not happening. I honestly wouldn’t know.
Im saying that as it stands, this movie won’t have any of dads music in it, & I can’t imagine that changing. If you want to see a biopic without his music or the families blessing, thats up to the audience.”

Salon Pictures, the studio producing Stardust, responded with the following statement:

“We would like to clarify that this film … is a moment in time film at a turning point in David’s life, and is not reliant on Bowie’s music.

“Much like Nowhere Boy for Lennon, Control for Joy Division, the production uses period music and songs that Bowie covered, but not his original tracks.”

Are YOU going to watch a David Bowie biopic without his original tunes? Let’s be honest, it definitely doesn’t sound like the best idea. You can’t separate Bowie and his music. Producer Paul Van Carter also added that it won’t be “a big-budget musical biopic like Bohemian Rhapsody.”

What are your thoughts on this?