David Bowie Unveils ‘Blackstar’
Sky Atlantic has today unveiled the opening credits for major new crime drama The Last Panthers, featuring “Blackstar,” a brand new original song written and performed by David Bowie.
The first look of the title sequence comes just five weeks before the show launches simultaneously across Europe on Sky Atlantic at 9 p.m. Nov. 12.
The track is the result of a meeting of minds between David Bowie and the director of the series Johan Renck who met during the filming of the show.
Johan Renck, director of The Last Panthers, commented “I showed Mr. Bowie the two first episodes in the rough state they were at the time, and he liked what he saw very much. We discussed the various aspects of the show; naturally the plot line, but also the underlying currents of guilt and personality flaws. We talked about the dark heart of Europe. We talked about the biblical aspects of human nature. He asked if there was anything else to see, so I showed him the first concept board i had just made for the title sequence – images from the show laced with chimaeras and demons from the worlds of Bosch and Grunewald. That’s when he said go – it all fits. Then he played me his new song ‘Blackstar.’”
The six part series, jointly pan-European commission from Sky and CANAL + in France, stars Academy Award nominee and BAFTA winner Samantha Morton alongside double Cesar award winner Tahar Rahim, Croatian star Goran Bogdan and two time Academy Award Nominee, three-time BAFTA winner and Golden Globe winner John Hurt.
The series is produced by France’s Haut et Court TV (The Returned) and the UK’s Warp Films (This is England) and directed by the acclaimed Johan Renck (Bloodline, Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead as well as videos by Madonna, New Order, Beyoncé and Lana Del Rey) and was filmed in Marseille, Belgrade, Montenegro and London.
The Last Panthers will screen on CANAL + in France and on Sky Atlantic in the UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany and Austria from Nov. 12.
For more information visit www.sky.com/corporate.