Daft Punk‘s Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem is heading to theaters for one night only.
A 4K remastered version of the legendary French electronic duo’s famous anime film will be screened in cinemas worldwide on December 12, film rightsholder Trafalgar Releasing announced today.
Following the film’s North American debut last month and several festival screenings earlier this year, the global event will take place across more than 800 theaters in over 40 countries, marking only the second time the audiovisual masterpiece has hit the silver screen.
Originally released in May 2003 as a visual accompaniment to Daft Punk’s platinum-selling sophomore album, Discovery, the sci-fi film was written by Daft Punk robots Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and their creative director Cédric Hervet, and animated by legendary Japanese illustrator Leiji Matsumoto and Toei Animation.
Soundtracked by the entirety of the 2001 LP, including anthems such as “One More Time,” “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger,” and “Veridis Quo,” Interstella 5555 tells the story of a four-piece alien band that is kidnapped and taken to Earth, where they are forced to work for the evil Earl de Darkwood.
Part house and techno space opera, part cautionary tale about the music industry, the avant-garde film, once described by Bangalter as “a second reading” of the band’s music, was also chopped up into short scenes for several Daft Punk music videos, including the now-iconic video for “One More Time,” setting a new standard for visual storytelling by musicians upon its release over two decades ago.
“‘One More Time’ was playing all over the town at that time!” producer Shinji Shimizu recalled in a statement. “I felt so proud that I wanted to shout to people on the street, ‘We are making its animation now!’”
To celebrate the screening, Daft Punk will also re-release a special Interstella 5555 edition of Discovery on vinyl and CD and drop a limited run of merch featuring the film’s band, the Crescendolls.
Tickets for the screening will go on sale on November 13. For more information, or to purchase tickets, visit interstella5555film.com.
Featured image courtesy: Toei Animation / Press.
