‘Becoming Led Zeppelin’ Filmmakers on Early Meetings with Zeppelin
Early access screenings of Becoming Led Zeppelin begin today (Feb. 5). For fans of the iconic band, it shouldn’t be surprising to learn that the makers of the Led Zeppelin documentary went to detailed lengths to make this film.
Writer-director Bernard MacMahon described to The Guardian what it took to get Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and Robert Plant on board. The first meeting MacMahon and his film partner Allison McGourty landed was with Page. It was at a London hotel in November 2017, and it lasted seven hours and included a tea break. Page showed up with multiple shopping bags. MacMahon said he thought the guitar god brought sandwiches; Page actually brought his old diaries that went all the way back to the 1960s.
Page had little secret tests for MacMahon and McGourty to see if he could trust them. One of those tests included asking them if they wanted to visit Pangbourne, the boathouse where Page once lived. They said yes, and McGourty told The Guardian, “Later, [Page] revealed it had been a test. ‘If you had said no to Pangbourne we wouldn’t have done the film.'”
Once MacMahon and McGourty had Page on board, the guitarist told them it was on them to get Jones and Plant to agree to the film. Jones initially said he wasn’t interested, but MacMahon sent him American Epic, his and McGourty’s docuseries about 1920s American roots music. The Guardian notes, “MacMahon asked Jones to ‘watch 15 minutes, and if you don’t want to talk to us after that, you won’t hear from us again and that will be the end of the film.’ Jones obliged, called MacMahon back, and then signed on after a four-hour conversation.
Plant, of course, would be the toughest nut to crack. Fortunately for MacMahon and McGourty, Plant was familiar with American Epic. After meeting Plant at a concert in Scotland, having two additional meetings, and another chat, he was on board.
Becoming Led Zeppelin has long been in the works, with the primary interviews with Page, Jones, and Plant filmed in 2018. So, why has it taken so long for the film to be released? MacMahon and McGourty literally spent years fact-checking every story each band member mentioned. The Guardian writes, “MacMahon says that once the band had agreed to the film, they never interfered or demanded any editorial control. But he wanted to ‘make sure what they were saying was backed up by their contemporaries,’ so after Jones had talked about buying an organ for a church and becoming a choirmaster at the age of 14, he tracked down the priest involved. And when Page talked about playing on ‘Goldfinger,’ MacMahon tracked down Vic Flick, the James Bond theme guitarist.”
Becoming Led Zeppelin opens in IMAX theaters on Feb. 7, 2025, with select early access screenings taking place today (Feb. 5) and tomorrow (Feb. 6). Tickets are on sale now at IMAX.com.