Photo Credit: William Popsie Randolph

On February 7, Sony Pictures Classics released Becoming Led Zeppelin, a new documentary that chronicles the legendary heavy metal innovators’ early years and ascent through archival materials and first-hand accounts from the iconic quartet. After a tremendous opening weekend gross of $3 million–the biggest ever for an IMAX®-exclusive music offering–the first officially sanctioned film on the group will now expand its presentation from 369 to 1,000 screens, giving fans across the country the chance to hear the story of Led Zeppelin’s incredible intervention in rock in their own words.

Becoming Led Zeppelin is the product of passionate efforts by director Bernard MacMahon and writer/producer Allison McGourty, who spent years assembling a towering psychedelic tribute from never-before-seen live footage, unearthed home movies, current interviews with the musicians and more. To create this unprecedented view into group’s origins, the team scoured the globe to unearth early materials long thought to be lost or nonexistent, including tape from 1969 concerts at the Atlanta Pop Festival, the Fillmore West, and the Texas Pop Festival and an unreleased interview with the late John Bonham.

“We spent five years flying back and forth across the Atlantic scouring attics and basements in pursuit of rare and unseen film footage, photographs and music recordings,” McGourty shared in a statement. “Then we transferred each piece of media with custom techniques, so that in IMAX, these 55-year-old clips and music would look and sound like they came out of the lab yesterday.” 

Other archival treasures uncovered for the film include a wealth of behind-the-scenes photographs that document pivotal moments from the band’s rise and reign. Among them is the image above, captured by photographer William Popsie Randolph, which shows manager Peter Grant, Jimmy Page and music mogul and Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun presumably signing the band’s initial major label contract in New York. The exclusive photo for Relix is integral to Led Zeppelin’s origin story a pivotal moment in the scope of the early-years film.

Tickets for Becoming Led Zeppelin are available now at imax.com. Watch the official trailer below.