The Pet Shop Boys are ready to infiltrate movie theaters worldwide with the release of their “Dreamworld” concert film.
Their 40th anniversary celebration will be featured in more than 1,400 theaters in 50 countries across the globe, according to Variety. Film distributor Trafalgar Releasing will open up just two nights worth of event screenings — Jan. 31 and Feb 4. — to showcase the brand new concert film, “Pet Shop Boys Dreamworld: The Hits Live.”
The concert film was created by White Light Film Productions, and is a documentary that chronicles the group’s performance at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen in a theatrical cinematic experience. The film will include costume changes and stunning visuals, in the first-ever project of its’s kind by the band that thrilled fans with their signature sounds in the 80s.
Supervising producer Andrew Winter spoke about the relevance of the location they selected for filming.
“It’s a great crowd in Copenhagen!” he told Variety. “The venue is vast and easy to position and maneuver cameras around, picking up not only the performance on stage, but also to get the audience reactions close-up and capture the real feel of being at the show.”
BERLIN, GERMANY – JUNE 05: Neil Tennant (L) and Chris Lowe of Pet Shop Boys attends the TV Show ‘Mensch Gottschalk – Das bewegt Deutschland’ on June 5, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Clemens Bilan/Getty Images)
The Copenhagen performance was filmed using 14 different 4k cameras and involved 50 crew members.
VIENNA, AUSTRIA – MAY 15: (L-R) Ex-Pet Shop Boys singer Neil Tennant, Sir Elton John and Life Ball show designer Patrick Cox arrive at the 2004 Life Ball AIDS charity gala at City Hall May 15, 2004 in Vienna, Austria. Life Ball has become one of the city’s biggest annual social events. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
What sets this particular concert film apart from the others is the fact that “Dreamworld” was entirely filmed in just one evening — July 7, 2023 — and relies solely on footage from that one particular night. There were no cuts to the setlist, giving fans the opportunity to view a raw, uncompromised rendering of the concert, according to Variety.
“What you see on screen is a true representation of Pet Shop Boys’ Dreamworld performances and the production design by Pet Shop Boys’ creative director, Tom Scutt,” supervising producer Louise Brookes told Variety. “It was really important to us to capture the essence of the show itself within the film.”
“Dreamworld” has been in the works for several years and was specifically designed for the big screen. Production on the concert film faced pandemic-related delays but is arriving in theaters just in time for the 40th anniversary of the group’s breakout hit, “West End Girls,” according to Variety.
“It feels quite serendipitous now, as Pet Shop Boys celebrate their 40th year of writing and performing,” Brookes said.
“Dreamworld” follows in the footsteps of wildly successful theatrical concert films like “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” and “Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé.” (RELATED: Video Shows Travis Scott Gifting $5,000 To Janitor Cleaning Up Mid-Concert)
Trafalgar Releasing also handled international distribution for both of those concert films, according to Variety.