James Blunt, the British singer-songwriter behind the romantic anthem of the aughties, “You’re Beautiful,” is the focus of a new documentary.
The project, which is jokingly described as “the story of an ageing, British pop star, still fighting for relevance some 17 years after his star momentarily twinkled,” will follow Blunt all across Europe during his 2022 Greatest Hit Tour.
The doc, which is directed by Chris Atkin, will delve into Blunt’s backstory, from witnessing the genocide of the Kosovo War as a British Army soldier to recording “Back to Bedlam,” the biggest selling album of the 2000s in the U.K. The film will also detail how Blunt endured a harsh backlash following his meteoric success, but “tweeted his way back” by becoming a keen social commentator online.
Blunt, who has 2.2 million followers on Twitter, often responds to trolls online with salty, self-deprecating remarks about his career.
Described as “Spinal Tap” meets “Alan Partridge,” the doc is positioned as a “behind the scenes, brutally honest story of a painfully self-aware, endlessly touring musician, for whom persistence eventually prevails.”
“In hindsight, I’m not sure letting them film this was a good idea,” quipped Blunt in a statement.
The film, which is still untitled, is produced by Lorton Entertainment, which recently enjoyed success with the BBC documentary “Bros: After the Screaming Stops,” following the British band Bros. The outfit also produced the award-winning Oasis documentary “Supersonic” as well as the forthcoming George Ezra film “End-to-End,” which the singer previewed at a recent concert.
The Blunt doc is produced by Steven Lappin, Ian Neil and Dom Freeman at Next of Kin Films, and Julian Bird, Ed Barratt and Arthur Landon of Lorton Entertainment. The film has been financed by Lorton Entertainment, which will also distribute internationally.
From Variety US