“Ozzy: No Escape From Now” — released on Paramount+ on Oct. 6 (alongside several special fan screenings) — wasn’t supposed to be a posthumous feature documentary looking back at the final years of Ozzy Osbourne‘s life. But that’s what it tragically turned out to be after the rock icon passed away in July, when the film was still in the edit.
Brit director Tania Alexander, with the consent and involvement of Sharon Osbourne (who exec produces), had set out to make a film exploring the aftermath of Ozzy’s life-changing fall in 2019, the toll it took it on him, his mental health and his family, alongside his desperate efforts to get back on stage and the emotional devastation at having to cancel his farewell tour.
Amid the pain, “No Escape From Now” also manages to showcases the comfort Ozzy found in making music once more — particularly for what would be his final studio album “Patient Number 9” — and his determination to say one last goodbye to his fans, culminating in his triumphant farewell gig in his home city of Birmingham (surrounded by some of the biggest rock stars on the planet — most of them extremely emotional about honoring their hero).
When Ozzy passed away less than three weeks later, Alexander was still deep in the edit on the film. But as she explains, not only did she keep going — at the full request of the family — but, barring one addition at the very end, she didn’t change a second.
How did this film come your way?
Phil [Alexander, producer and former editor of Kerrang! magazine] and I have a very long-standing relationship with the Osbornes. We knew what had happened to Ozzy, and we knew around the time he was doing “Patient Number Nine.” We had a conversation with Sharon. We wanted to tell the story of what had happened to him since that fall, which we knew had really impacted him and the family, and she said: Well, I really want it told, but I want it told as it is, as harsh as it is, I don’t want any punches pulled. The one thing that you know about the Osbournes is they are really honest. There’s no spin involved. Sharon will let you completely have your freedom, but we always wanted to prefix that with: this is what we want to do. And if there were going to be any red flags, she would have flagged them.
So did she effectively give you access all areas?
When you’ve got somebody as ill as Ozzy was, you just need to have things slightly more planned in the sense of, ‘what are your intentions’? And Sharon never blocked anything and was really trusting. We went into it knowing that there might be some ups and downs when it came to being able to film because he was going through operations, or he was going through bad patches. So we just had to be flexible. But she said: just tell the truth. We’ve been through a terrible time, so we want it reflected.
As you say, you’re dealing with someone who’s really ill and going through up and downs. Were there ever any moments where it felt too intrusive or where it was too much for him to continue?
There were moments you see in the opening where he sits in his chair and he’s quite uncomfortable, because of the Parkinson’s but also because he had horrendous back pain continually. I was always very aware of his cushions. So we were constantly asking him, do you want to stop? And he’s the kind of person who sits down and goes, how long is this going to take? And then, honestly, about 20 minutes in he’d be really enjoying chatting about himself and say, have you got any more questions? You could see that it was part of his day and almost something enjoyable to do.
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The doc builds up to Ozzy’s final farewell show in Birmingham and whether or not he’ll be able to appear. But this gig hadn’t even been discussed when you started.
Which is crazy. When we first started filming with him, he’d had to postpone his world tour. So when we were filming, it was always about, will he be able to do the tour? Can he get fit to do the tour? And then he does the Commonwealth Games and comes back with all guns blazing, saying, I’m going to do the tour. And then the rug’s pulled again. So up until that point, we were seeing if he could get back on stage to do the tour. And then it literally happened in that chat. He’d been saying to Sharon, I feel I haven’t said thank you and goodbye, and if I can’t do a tour, I need to do something. And so she said what about doing this one last show. We didn’t start off with that being the end. Our pitch was a story about one man’s battle to get back on stage one last time. But that’s what it became. And the determination I saw. He had sepsis at the end of April, and I think had 72 days before he was meant to be on stage. The determination was phenomenal.
I loved the scenes with the other major rockers getting together. The warmth and love they have towards Ozzy was so sweet to see
There is genuine respect and love. A lot of those guys will reflect back to when they were kids and how he changed their lives. Billy Corgan got really upset. James Hetfield was really emotional. He means so much in so many different ways. It was an extraordinary moment for me, seeing Ozzy watch those really big artists singing his songs in front of him. And they were genuinely nervous, you felt that. But I did think they said some really nice things, and they all really meant it.
This was made as a living doc. What stage were you at when Ozzy passed away?
We were in the edit and had another six weeks to go. We’d cut 90 minutes and were doing the last 30 — the build up to the farewell gig. After he died, there was a part of me that thought, if look back on the 90 minute now it’s going to look different through a new lens. So I watched it back and didn’t change it — I just thought, no, it’s the same film I cut before. And it ends in exactly the same way we always wanted — where it cuts to black. Apart from we we added the funeral procession at the end at the request of the family.
What conversations were had about the doc with the family, who were obviously in mourning at the time. Was there ever a suggestion of not keeping going with it?
They wanted us to keep going. Sharon has always been really behind it. She’s always been really supportive. But there was just a request from the family that we added the cortege montage at the end. So we did. But otherwise it didn’t change, and it ended where it was meant to end originally.
And no other element of the film changed at all?
Nothing at all, because he still made it onto the stage. It was heartbreaking looking at the scene of him and Sharon talking about how he could hang up the mic and then ‘it’s just us, pottering around the garden.’ That was really hard to cut. Me and my editor cried a bit at times.
From Variety US