The First Trailer For David Byrne’s American Utopia Film Has Arrived

The First Trailer For David Byrne’s American Utopia Film Has Arrived

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David Byrne and the Americn Utopia cast. Photo by Jim Dyson/Getty Images.

Earlier this year, David Byrne appeared on Saturday Night Live for the first time in decades to perform two songs from his American Utopia Broadway show with the news that, after touring the ground-breaking music production around the world, a Spike Lee directed concert film of the incredible show was in the works. 

The upcoming film was originally intended to premiere at this years’ Toronto Film Festival, but due to the current state of the world, will now be released to streaming via HBO on Oct 17th. In the first one-minute teaser that arrived today, Byrne narrates a philosophical passage over a montage of cuts featuring his roving musical ensemble (11 in total) who perform as one deconstructed band to deliver a career-spanning collection of tracks from the Talking Heads singer’s entire catalogue. Check it out below.

Despite all that’s happened and despite what’s still happening, there’s still possibility,” Byrne says. “James Baldwin said: ‘I still believe that we can do with this country something that has not been done before.’”

David Byrne's American Utopia [2020]: Official Teaser | HBO

“I see it as the journey of a character who is me but not me, because it’s not necessarily biographical,” Byrne told Ultimate Classic Rock, when speaking about the upcoming concert film last year. “He starts off within himself wondering how to be in the world, what's the right thing to do, how you relate to other people. It's all kind of a mystery to the character. Then this person finds himself within this little community - in this case the band - and that allows him to come out of his interior a bit. Then by the end, this person and the band are engaged in the wider world, getting involved beyond their own bubble.”

Who knew how wildly appropriate Byrne’s bubble metaphor would be one year later! The Spike Lee directed concert film of David Byrne's American Utopia, will arrive on HBO Oct 17th

Listen to American Utopia on Spotify:

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