Bruce Springsteen's 'Western Stars' Documentary Acquired by Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. has acquired the worldwide rights to the Bruce Springsteen documentary “Western Stars” featuring live performances of his new album of the same name, studio chairman Toby Emmerich announced Friday.

The studio will release the film in theaters later this fall following its world premiere at a gala presentation at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. Fans can also get a first look at the film ahead of screenings of New Line’s “Blinded by the Light.”

Springsteen co-directs the film with his longtime music video and concert film collaborator Thom Zimny. “Western Stars” features Springsteen, a live orchestra and full band performing live takes on all 13 tracks of his 2019 album of the same name, along with additional archival footage and Springsteen’s narration. The concert takes place underneath the cathedral ceiling of a 100-year-old barn.

Also Read: How Bruce Springsteen Kept Director Thom Zimny on His Toes Making 'Springsteen on Broadway'

“Bruce lives in the super rarified air of artists who have blazed new and important trails deep into their careers,” Emmerich said in a statement. “With ‘Western Stars,’ Bruce is pivoting yet again, taking us with him on an emotional and introspective cinematic journey, looking back and looking ahead. As one of his many fans for over 40 years, I couldn’t be happier to be a rider on this train with Bruce and Thom.”

Springsteen first dropped news of the documentary on SiriusXM’s E Street Radio back in July, saying that the decision to package the album along with the film would be done in lieu of a larger concert tour.

“Western Stars” is Springsteen’s 19th studio album and his first of completely new material since 2009’s “Working on a Dream.” The more acoustic, cinematic sounding album, featuring singles like “Hello Sunshine” and “There Goes My Miracle,” earned Springsteen some of the best reviews in recent years, and the album debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 behind Madonna’s “Madame X.”

The live performance of “Western Stars” as shown in the documentary features a special appearance by Springsteen’s wife and E Street Band member Patti Scialfa. Springsteen is an executive producer, with Zimny, Jon Landau, Barbara Carr and George Travis producing.

Also Read: Bruce Springsteen Teases Film of 'Western Stars' Performances

On Friday, Warner Bros.’s New Line label released “Blinded by the Light,” a Sundance film that was inspired by Springsteen’s music and even features an old, unused song that he previously wrote for a “Harry Potter” film.

Zimny and Springsteen previously collaborated on the documentary “The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town,” and the Netflix filmed version of the Tony Award-winning “Springsteen on Broadway,” which Zimny directed.

Variety first reported the news of the acquisition.

15 Top Grossing Documentaries at the Box Office, From 'An Inconvenient Truth' to 'Fahrenheit 9/11' (Photos)

Documentaries are rarely big money makers, but they can have the power to influence change and motivate people to action in a way narrative films cannot. So when a documentary does make a splash at the box office, it's an even bigger surprise. This list of the top-15 grossing documentaries ever is an interesting mix of political, nature and concert docs, and several of them likewise went on to win Oscars and critical acclaim. All numbers are domestic totals via Box Office Mojo.
Warner Bros./National Geographic Films/Paramount Classics
15. "They Shall Not Grow Old" (2018) - $17.9 million

Director Peter Jackson went to painstaking lengths to digitally restore and transform 100-year-old archival footage for his powerful documentary on World War I. Jackson restored color and sound to the Great War, something that was previously only known through black and white silent film. The documentary performed well in part because of a release that even transformed the footage into 3D.
Warner Bros.
14. "Oceans" (2010) - $19.4 million

You'll see a lot of Disneynature documentaries on this list. Pierce Brosnan narrates this 2010 documentary filmed across the world's oceans.
Disneynature
13. "Bowling for Columbine" (2002) - $21.5 million

Michael Moore's provocative documentary about American gun violence (and one of his best) won the Oscar for Best Documentary and broke international box office records for a documentary in 2002.
United Artists
12. "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" (2018) - $22.8 million

Morgan Neville's portrait of Fred Rogers and "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" proved to be a crowd-pleasing hit in the summer of 2018 because of the absolute niceness at its heart. Neville in his film explains that Fred Rogers was the rare person who really did not have a dark side, and in "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" it shows.
Jim Judkis / Focus Features
11. "An Inconvenient Truth" (2006) - $24.1 million

Davis Guggenheim's documentary spotlighting former Vice President Al Gore's plea to alert the world to the effects of global warming and climate change went on to win two Oscars and earn a sequel.
Paramount Classics
10. "Sicko" (2007) - $24.5 million

Another Michael Moore movie to crack the list, "Sicko" was Moore's look at the healthcare industry in America compared to other nations, with Moore sailing sick veterans down to Cuba to receive the care they couldn't have had at home.
Lionsgate
9. "Katy Perry: Part of Me" (2012) - $25.3 million

This 2012 concert movie followed Katy Perry on her California Dreams World Tour.
Paramount Pictures
8. "One Direction: This Is Us" (2013) - $28.8 million

"Super Size Me" filmmaker Morgan Spurlock directed this concert doc about the then wildly popular British boy group.
TriStar
7. "Chimpanzee" (2012) - $28.9 million

Tim Allen narrated this Disneynature doc about a three-month old chimp separated from his flock and adopted by another grown male.
Disneynature
6. "Earth" (2007) - $32 million

The first of Disneynature's documentaries, "Earth" was a theatrical version of the popular "Planet Earth" miniseries from 2006. "Earth" was finally given a stateside theatrical release in 2009.
Disneynature
5. "2016: Obama's America" (2012) - $33.4 million

Dinesh D'Souza's anti-Obama documentary speculated about where the country would be if Obama won a second term in office in 2012.
Getty Images
4. "Michael Jackson's This Is It" (2009) - $72 million

The footage in "This Is It" comes from a behind-the-scenes look at preparation for Michael Jackson's 50 shows at London's O2 Arena. It wasn't originally meant to be made into a film, but it provided an intimate look at Jackson in his final days.
Getty Images
3. "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never" (2011) - $73 million

The Biebs holds the spot for the highest-grossing concert film ever and the documentary with the biggest opening weekend of all time.
Paramount Pictures
2. "March of the Penguins" (2005) - $77.4 million

People sure love penguins. Morgan Freeman narrates the nature documentary that opened on just four screens but soon spread into a nationwide hit.
National Geographic Films
1. "Fahrenheit 9/11" (2004) - $119.1 million

Michael Moore's scathing documentary about President George W. Bush and the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks is the highest-grossing documentary of all time and it isn't even close. The film won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Opening at over $23 million, the movie at the time opened higher than any other documentary had ever grossed in its lifetime. Moore followed up the film with a documentary about the 2016 election and Donald Trump, titled "Fahrenheit 11/9," which refers to the day after he was elected.
Miramax

1 of 16

Michael Moore, Disneynature and several concert films top the list

Documentaries are rarely big money makers, but they can have the power to influence change and motivate people to action in a way narrative films cannot. So when a documentary does make a splash at the box office, it's an even bigger surprise. This list of the top-15 grossing documentaries ever is an interesting mix of political, nature and concert docs, and several of them likewise went on to win Oscars and critical acclaim. All numbers are domestic totals via Box Office Mojo.

View In Gallery

15 Top Grossing Documentaries at the Box Office, From 'An Inconvenient Truth' to 'Fahrenheit 9/11' (Photos)

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