David Bowie origin story “Stardust,” starring Johnny Flynn as the musician, has secured distribution in Italy with a deal inked with I Wonder Pictures ahead of the film’s world premiere at the Rome Film Festival this month.
Flynn and director Gabriel Range will be in Rome for the red carpet event on Oct. 16 to promote the film, which had a digital premiere as part of the Tribeca Film Festival in April.
I Wonder will release the film in Italian cinemas on the back of the U.S. release ahead of Christmas. U.S. distributor IFC will release the film on Nov. 25, followed by distributors across the rest of the world in the coming months, including Canada, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Middle East, Russia, Portugal, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India and Latin America.
Andrea Romeo, I Wonder CEO, said: “Gabriel Range has made an incredibly ambitious and elegant film, revealing an extraordinary actor in Johnny Flynn. We are delighted to bring it to Italian cinemas.”
Range said: “In such a difficult year I’m thrilled to have a physical launchpad for the film with Rome Film Festival, and I cannot wait for international audiences to discover the film!”
“Stardust” stars Flynn (“Emma,” “Beast”) as a 24-year-old David Bowie who embarks on his first trip to America, only to be met with a world not yet ready for him. The film reveals the inspirations and life events that gave birth to Bowie’s iconic alter ego, Ziggy Stardust, charting the transformation of one of the world’s greatest cultural icons.
Flynn stars alongside Marc Maron (“Glow,” “Respect”) and Jena Malone (“Antebellum,” “The Neon Demon”).
The film was written by Christopher Bell and Range, and was produced by Paul Van Carter, Nick Taussig and Matt Code. Executive producers are Fabien Westerhoff, Christopher Figg and Robert Whitehouse. The film was produced by U.K.-based Salon Pictures (“Churchill,” and the double BAFTA-nominated “McQueen”), and is a co-production with Wildling Pictures in Canada.
Film Constellation, which financed the film alongside Piccadilly Pictures, is handling international sales.