Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s L.A.-based Imagine Documentaries has partnered with Bell Media Studios, White Pine Pictures and Universal Music Canada’s Shed Creative on Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band, a feature-length documentary about legendary musician Robbie Robertson.

Grazer, Howard and Martin Scorsese will executive produce the feature documentary about Robertson’s youth and his role as a founding member of seminal rock group The Band.

Inspired by Robertson’s 2017 memoir, Testimony, the film will blend archival footage and interviews with many of the musician’s friends and collaborators, including Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Peter Gabriel, David Geffen, amongst others.

Filmmaker Daniel Roher (Survivors Rowe) will direct.

Robertson was born in Toronto, a half-Mohawk, half-Jewish kid who got his break as a teenager with Ronnie Hawkins’ The Hawks. He also played guitar for Bob Dylan during his 1966 world tour and was leader of The Band, who went on to have hits like “The Weight” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”. The Band’s known for their seminal 1976 concert and film The Last Waltz, directed by Scorsese, which took place at Winterland Ballroom in San Fransisco.

Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band is being executive produced by Justin Wilkes and Sara Bernstein for Imagine Documentaries; White Pines Pictures’ president Peter Raymont, and Steve Ord; Jared Levine; Michael Levine; Bell Media president, Randy Lennox; Universal Music Canada president and CEO Jeffrey Remedios; and Shed Creative’s managing director Dave Harris.

“Robbie and The Band are the stuff of rock n’ roll mythology,” said Wilkes in a statement. “As a Woodstock native, the Big Pink house loomed large in my cultural psyche growing up and like many, many others, the music sure made a lasting impression. The gospel according to Robbie is a wild, cinematic ride and we here at Imagine are honored to partner with Daniel and an illustrious band of producers in sharing Robbie’s story with the world.”

Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band is set to be released theatrically in Fall 2019 and on Bell Media-owned SVOD Crave in early 2020.

From Realscreen