{"id":17858,"date":"2026-01-16T08:43:26","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T13:43:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/?p=17858"},"modified":"2026-01-16T08:43:27","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T13:43:27","slug":"official-billy-idol-documentary-billy-idol-should-be-dead-set-for-theatrical-run-in-early-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/?p=17858","title":{"rendered":"Official BILLY IDOL Documentary ‘Billy Idol Should Be Dead’ Set For Theatrical Run In Early 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The global theatrical rights to the forthcoming feature-length documentary film\u00a0“Billy Idol Should Be Dead”<\/strong>, directed by three-time\u00a0Grammy<\/strong>\u00a0winner\u00a0Jonas \u00c5kerlund<\/strong>\u00a0and produced by\u00a0Live Nation Studios<\/strong>, have been acquired by\u00a0Evan Saxon Productions<\/strong>\u00a0(ESP<\/strong>). The film traces the life and career of punk pioneer turned rock ‘n’ roll icon\u00a0Billy Idol<\/strong>. Through never-before-seen archival and personal interviews with Idol, his family, peers and collaborators, the documentary digs deep into his emergence as a prototypical punk rocker, his meteoric rise as a global superstar in the\u00a0MTV<\/strong>\u00a0era and the myriad of challenges Idol had to overcome to not just survive, but to remain one of the most beloved figures in rock n roll, almost fifty years into his career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The film made its festival debut at the Tribeca Film Festival<\/strong> last summer, followed by an award qualifying run. The film will have its wide theatrical release in early 2026. Additional info will be shared shortly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Billy Idol<\/strong> is a larger-than-life artist who changed the face of pop culture and music history during his 50-year career,” notes Evan Saxon<\/strong>. “From Generation X to now, he’s still selling out arenas around the globe. We are honored to work with Another Planet<\/strong>‘s Laurence Freedman<\/strong> and Live Nation<\/strong> to bring the powerful and heartfelt documentary ‘Billy Idol Should Be Dead’<\/strong> to his fans on the biggest cinema screens worldwide.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The film features Idol<\/strong>‘s original song with Academy Award<\/strong>-nominated writer J. Ralph<\/strong>, “Dying To Live”<\/strong>, which is included on the shortlist for “Best Original Song” at the 98th Academy Awards<\/strong>. The film’s coda sequence is built around “Dying To Live”<\/strong>, featuring imagery \u2014 both animated and archival \u2014 from throughout Idol<\/strong>‘s life and storied career and was written by Idol<\/strong> and Ralph<\/strong> alongside longtime Idol<\/strong> collaborators Steve Stevens<\/strong>, Tommy English<\/strong> and Joe Janiak<\/strong>. Listen to the song and watch\/share the video of the coda sequence below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Billboard<\/strong> recently named “Dying To Live”<\/strong> a top contender for the “Best Original Song” Oscar<\/strong>, while The Hollywood Reporter<\/strong> praises “Idol<\/strong>‘s warm vocal delivery alongside the swelling strings.” The original song was recently nominated for “Best Song – Documentary Film” at the Hollywood Music In Media Awards<\/strong> (HMMA<\/strong>),which also nominated “Billy Idol Should Be Dead”<\/strong> for “Best Music Documentary – Special Program”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Idol<\/strong>‘s first full-length album of new music in over a decade, “Dream Into It”, is out now on Dark Horse Records<\/strong>. The album reached No. 7 on the U.S. Top Albums chart and No. 4 on the U.S. Current Rock Album chart, No. 9 on the U.K. Official Album Sales chart and No. 2 on the German Top 100 Album chart. “Dream Into It”<\/strong> continues to see extensive critical acclaim from The New Yorker<\/strong>, New York Magazine<\/strong>, AARP The Magazine<\/strong>, Consequence<\/strong>, Billboard<\/strong>, USA Today<\/strong> and many more. The album includes performance and co-writing contributions throughout from Idol<\/strong>‘s longtime guitarist\/collaborator Steve Stevens<\/strong> plus appearances by Avril Lavigne<\/strong>, Joan Jett<\/strong> and Alison Mosshart<\/strong> of THE KILLS<\/strong>, and is produced by Tommy English<\/strong> (KACEY MUSGRAVES<\/strong>, BLINK 182<\/strong>, B\u00d8RNS<\/strong>, K. FLAY<\/strong>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, Idol<\/strong> recently returned to the road for “It’s a Nice Day To\u2026Tour Again!”<\/strong> The tour saw Idol sell out venues across the U.S., Europe and Latin America while touring with support from JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS<\/strong>, NEW MODEL ARMY<\/strong> and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For 46 years, recent Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame<\/strong> nominee Billy Idol<\/strong> has been one of the definitive faces and voices of rock’n’roll. Between 1977 and 1981, Idol<\/strong> released three albums with Generation X as their camera-ready frontman. In 1982, he embarked on a transatlantic\/trans-genre solo career that integrated the bold and simple lines of punk and rock’n’roll decadence. With his longtime guitarist\/collaborator Steve Stevens<\/strong> at his side, Idol<\/strong> has toured consistently around the world for the last ten years. Showing no signs of slowing down, Idol<\/strong> released both “The Roadside”<\/strong> EP in 2021 and “The Cage”<\/strong> EP in 2022 on Dark Horse Records<\/strong>, earning praise from fans and critics alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evan Saxon<\/strong> has been at the forefront of Event Cinema<\/strong> distribution strategies for music-centric films, leading the acquisition, global distribution and marketing of projects featuring some of the most influential artists in modern music, including THE BEATLES<\/strong>, LED ZEPPELIN<\/strong>, Dolly Parton<\/strong>, Paul McCartney<\/strong>, PEARL JAM<\/strong>, GREEN DAY<\/strong>, Syd Barrett<\/strong>\/PINK FLOYD<\/strong>, Miles Davis<\/strong>, IRON MAIDEN<\/strong>, RUSH<\/strong>, Melanie Martinez<\/strong>, Cymande<\/strong>, MY MORNING JACKET<\/strong>, REDD KROSS<\/strong> and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Founded by Saxon<\/strong>, Evan Saxon Productions<\/strong> (ESP<\/strong>) works with artists, record labels and filmmakers to create innovative, audience-driven marketing, distribution and rights-management strategies designed to expand reach, deepen fan engagement and unlock new revenue streams. Saxon<\/strong> began his career at IRS Records<\/strong> and later held roles at Capitol Records<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The global theatrical rights to the forthcoming feature-length documentary film\u00a0“Billy Idol Should Be Dead”, directed by three-time\u00a0Grammy\u00a0winner\u00a0Jonas \u00c5kerlund\u00a0and produced by\u00a0Live Nation Studios, have been acquired by\u00a0Evan Saxon Productions\u00a0(ESP). The film traces the life and career of punk pioneer turned rock ‘n’ roll icon\u00a0Billy Idol. Through never-before-seen archival and personal interviews with Idol, his family, peers… Read More »Official BILLY IDOL Documentary ‘Billy Idol Should Be Dead’ Set For Theatrical Run In Early 2026<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17859,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17858"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17858\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17860,"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17858\/revisions\/17860"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}