Two and a half years after Martin Scorsese first announced he would embark on producing an official Grateful Dead documentary, Long Strange Trip will head to Amazon Prime Video in May.
Before the six-part documentary hits Amazon, the Amir Bar-Lev-directed film will debut at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, with the Dead's Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, and Bob Weir in attendance with Jerry Garcia's daughter Trixie.
"I've always admired the spirit and creativity of the Grateful Dead," Scorsese said in a statement following the Amazon acquisition. "They are revolutionary artists who forever changed the world of touring and recording live music. They were a cultural force — a lifestyle, that continue to influence new generations of fans. This film will entertain and educate audiences about one of the most innovative and groundbreaking American bands of the 20th century."
When the project was revealed in October 2014 – at the time, the documentary aimed to celebrate the Dead's 50th anniversary in 2015 – filmmakers promised never-before-seen archival footage from the Dead's vaults, live performances and new interviews with band members and "other characters and pranksters from the Dead universe."
Long Strange Trip will also feature some of the Dead's "most dynamic live performances as well as unguarded moments offstage."
"I first reached out to the Grateful Dead about this film back in 2003," Bar-Lev, who previously directed the documentaries Happy Valley and The Pat Tillman Story, said in a statement. "Since then, everyone who has come aboard has treated this project with a renegade spirit of cooperation and ingenuity worthy of the subject matter ... I can't wait to see how many brains [Amazon] can infect with the Dead's contagious brand of anti-establishment fun."
Weir added, "Over several decades, a group of guys hung together making music in a group that was way tighter and lasted much longer than most marriages. Here's the movie…"