Cast your eyes on this starry still: Salon Pictures has released a first look at English actor and singer Johnny Flynn (Lovesick, Beast) as legendary singer David Bowie in the upcoming biopic Stardust.
The movie’s producer Paul Van Carter also shared the photo of Flynn as Bowie — complete with long blonde locks, a trilby hat and a cigarette in hand — on Wednesday via Instagram.
Directed by Gabriel Range (I Am Slave) and written by Christopher Bell (Netflix’s The Last Czars), the movie is set in 1971 and sees Bowie as a 24-year-old heading off for his first road trip to U.S. with his publicist Ron Oberman, played by GLOW‘s Marc Maron. It’s a pretty eventful expedition, as along the way, Bowie discovers his famed alter ego Ziggy Stardust. Jena Malone (Nocturnal Animals) also stars as Bowie’s wife Angie.
Bowie’s son Duncan Jones previously expressed his feelings about the project, sharing that the movie doesn’t not have the family’s support, nor any of his father’s music.
In a statement given to EW at that time, the producers of Stardust said, “We would like to clarify that this film is not a biopic, it is a moment in time film at a turning point in David’s life, and is not reliant on Bowie’s music. Our original press release did state this. Much like Nowhere Boy for [John] Lennon, Control for Joy Division, the production uses period music and songs that Bowie covered, but not his original tracks. The film was written as an ‘origins story’ about the beginning of David’s journey as he invented his Ziggy Stardust character, and focuses on the character study of the artist, as opposed to a hits driven ‘music’ biopic.”
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- David Bowie’s son says Stardust biopic doesn’t have music rights or family’s blessing
- David Bowie statue vandalized 48 hours after unveiling
