Bleecker Street‘s event-cinema arm, Crosswalk, has picked up North American rights to the first fully authorized Def Leppard documentary, Long Live Def Leppard. The film digs into the band’s whole arc, from its scrappy U.K. roots to the worldwide fanbase it still commands, and is set to hit theaters in early 2027.
Director Jeff Feuerzeig (The Devil and Daniel Johnston, Author: The JT LeRoy Story) helmed the project and produced it alongside Alice Rhodes and Sam Bridger for VICE Studios, Nicholas Ferrall and Jeanne Elfant Festaof White Horse Pictures, Danny Gabai of The Searchers Documentary Films, and Brian T. Nugent of Sobey Road Entertainment.
Def Leppard has moved more than 110 million albums, holds two diamond certifications in the U.S., and landed in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — credentials that back up a live show the band is still leaning on hard. Made with the band’s full cooperation, Long Live Def Leppard promises previously unseen footage and close-up access to its members.
The band’s story starts in working-class Sheffield and runs through the breakout success of Pyromania and Hysteria before hitting two brutal setbacks: drummer Rick Allen losing an arm in a car accident, and the death of guitarist Steve Clark, whose playing still gets him ranked among rock’s great guitarists. Def Leppard pushed through both and kept building, and its staying power shows in a touring schedule that still fills stadiums — including a recently wrapped residency at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
The executive producer list is long: Nigel Sinclair and Cassidy Hartmann of White Horse Pictures; Stuart Goldstein and Rosie Taylor of VICE Studios; Andrew Trapani of Sobey Road Entertainment; Emmerson G. Farrell, David Sze, David B. Kirk, Bruce Resnikoff and Adam Barker of Universal Music Group; Natalia Nastaskin and Rob Dippold of Primary Wave Music; Todd Lieberman of Hidden Pictures; Brian Monaco of Sony Music Publishing; and Mike Kobayashi of CSM Management. Amy Rattray of VICE Studios line produced. Avy Eschenasy negotiated the deal for Crosswalk, with Kevin Iwashina of Audiovisuel representing the filmmakers.
“In the summer of ’81, after reading about Def Leppard in Creem, I saw the not-yet-famous band open for Ozzy Osbourne on his first ‘Blizzard Of Ozz’ tour at Asbury Park’s Convention Hall,” said Jeff Feuerzeig, director, writer and producer. “These young lads from working-class Sheffield were punching far above their weight and playing for keeps. I was smitten, a fan for life. It has been an honor to collaborate with the guys and bring their unique, heartwarming, and often humorous underdog story to the screen. This is not your typical sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll tale. Long live Def Leppard, indeed!”
“Def Leppard is a once-in-a-lifetime rock band, whose story and live performances demand to be seen and heard on the big screen,” said Bleecker Street CEO Kent Sanderson. “Longtime fans and those just being introduced to the group are going to be blown away by this high-energy, compelling, and ultimately moving look into this legendary band.”
Feuerzeig‘s résumé already includes The Devil and Daniel Johnston, which won the Documentary Directing Award at Sundance in 2005 and got a theatrical run through Sony Pictures Classics. He also directed Author: The JT LeRoy Story for Amazon Films and The Real Rocky for ESPN’s 30 for 30, plus a stack of commercial and branded work for clients like Google, Nokia and Samsung. As a writer, his credits run from Chuck, a.k.a. The Bleeder (co-written with Jerry Stahl, starring Liev Schreiber and Naomi Watts), to the Johnny Paycheck pilot and the George Jones and Tammy Wynette episodes of Cinemax’s animated series Mike Judge Presents: Tales From The Tour Bus. He’s also written for HBO, Amazon Films, IFC, and Universal Studios, shows up regularly on The Best Show and other film and music podcasts, and was personally invited into Maysles Films by Albert Maysles after a screening of The Devil and Daniel Johnston — which Indiewire later called the best music documentary of the century so far.
Crosswalk comes into this off the strength of Hadestown: The Musical, its live capture of the Tony-winning stage show that pulled in more than $20 million domestically and knocked Hamilton off the top spot for highest-grossing live capture of a stage show. Next on deck for the company is George Michael: The Faith Tour, a concert film built around newly unearthed footage from the European leg of the Faith tour, opening in theaters and IMAX on Dec. 11.
Bleecker Street‘s fall lineup also includes Academy Award winner Alex Gibney‘s Musk, premiering at Venice; Anton Corbijn‘s A Talent for Murder, starring Helen Mirren, Alden Ehrenreich and Olivia Cooke; and Mike Leigh‘s Tender Loving Care, both premiering in Toronto. Also on the slate is Academy Award winner Guy Nattiv‘s The Liberation, starring Carrie Coon, Lily James, Odessa Young, Tracy Letts and Bella Ramsey, which begins an awards-qualifying run in 2026.
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