David Byrne’s Dazzling Tour Being Turned Into a Film by ‘Brutalist’ Director Brady Corbet, Shooting in 70mm

David Byrne's legendary stage spectacles have long been a magnet for visionary filmmakers, a tradition that began when Jonathan Demme immortalized the Talking Heads frontman in the 1984 classic "Stop Making Sense"—widely hailed as the greatest concert film ever made. Now, six years after Spike Lee captured the "American Utopia" tour for the screen, another acclaimed director is taking on the challenge of documenting Byrne's latest live extravaganza, the 2025-26 "Who Is the Sky?" trek, with an ambitious large-format approach that promises to redefine the genre.

Brady Corbet, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker behind "The Brutalist," has completed principal photography on the new concert film and is currently deep in postproduction. Rather than relying on conventional digital capture, Corbet opted for a hybrid of 8-perf and 15-perf 70mm—a choice that surprised even Byrne himself. "When Brady told me he wanted to shoot our show in 70 millimeter (70 millimeter!) I didn't realize what a difference it would make until I saw some frames he sent me," the musician remarked. "He was right, it really does capture the widescreen visual scope of the show. I've never seen anything like it." The footage was shot over multiple evenings at Baltimore's Hippodrome, a historic venue in Byrne's hometown, where eagle-eyed concertgoers spotted the filming crew during May performances and shared their observations on social media.

While distribution plans remain under wraps, the project has attracted heavyweight backing. The film is a joint production between The Deep End Films and Pre-Code, Corbet's own company, with Mona Fastvold also attached, and is being presented by River Road Entertainment. The producer roster reads like a who's who of recent music documentary success: Amit Dey and Jason Fine of The Deep End—whose credits include "Sly Lives!," "The Sparks Brothers," and the acclaimed Beach Boys documentary "Brian Wilson's Long Promised Road"—alongside Corbet, Maddie Browning, and Byrne himself. Executive producers include River Road's Bill Pohlad, Andrew van Wyk, and Michael Overman, with global rights being negotiated by the Gersh Agency and The Deep End. Corbet expressed his gratitude in a statement, noting that "the band's performance is an inclusive celebration of community, and of Baltimore in particular—one of America's most underappreciated historic cities."

For Corbet, this project marks a partial return to musical territory—his 2018 film "Vox Lux" explored the dark side of pop stardom through a fictional narrative—though his next feature, "Origin of the World," starring Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, and Selena Gomez, is already slated to begin shooting later this year. Meanwhile, Byrne continues to ride the wave of his current tour, which has drawn rapturous reviews from critics. Variety named his Dolby Theatre performance the best concert of 2025, praising the show's "cordless choreography" and "wrap-around LED set" that rivals Las Vegas' Sphere in its visual impact. The publication noted that the most common sentiment overheard in the lobby was "That was the best concert I've seen in years." Byrne returns to Los Angeles this weekend for two nights at the Hollywood Bowl before heading to Mexico for five shows, then wrapping the North American leg on September 19 at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens—a fitting finale for a tour that has pushed the boundaries of what a live music experience can be.