Byrne Considers Another Step Into Cinema

David Byrne is flirting with the idea of another concert movie. The mastermind behind Talking Heads is currently touring North America with his Who Is The Sky tour (named after his latest album), bending cities into strange new shapes as only he can.

Byrne opened the run by unleashing Psycho Killer for the first time in nineteen years. In New York, Hayley Williams took the stage to hit Paramore’s Hard Times and their shared track What Is The Reason For It from Who Is The Sky.

Speaking with Vulture, Byrne admitted he is thinking about adapting the show for Broadway and capturing it on film, much like he did with Spike Lee on 2020’s American Utopia. Nothing confirmed. But the gears in his head are spinning and this tour won’t last forever.

Byrne opened up about the challenge of reshaping his work for Broadway. The crowd there needs to be eased into the current, not thrown into the deep end. They want to understand the world before they start moving to it. Byrne said this forced him to slow the show’s pulse, speak more, and introduce the elements piece by piece.

Byrne’s history with concert films is its own mythos. Stop Making Sense, shot by Oscar winner Jonathan Demme in 1984, remains a genre titan. A24’s 4K restoration last year only reinforced its legacy. Roar, Rise, Roar followed in 2010, chronicling his tour with Brian Eno and earning strong praise. And American Utopia with Spike Lee hit in 2020.

Byrne told NME that stripping the stage to an empty canvas for American Utopia was a liberation. With no barriers, the entire band could move, shifting the power dynamic and letting musicians usually trapped in the shadows step into the light.

Who Is The Sky arrived in September, featuring Ghost Train Orchestra and guest turns from St. Vincent, Hayley Williams, and The Smile’s Tom Skinner.

And if you were holding out hope for a Talking Heads reunion, Byrne shut that door in August. Trying to recreate the lightning of youth, he said, is a fool’s errand.

This is cool, right? Another Byrne film? Nice. Who else do you wish would consider stepping into cinema?

Written by Todd Hancock