Directed by the band\u2019s Joe Hahn, the film shows how they regrouped following Chester Bennington\u2019s death to record From Zero with Emily Armstrong<\/p>\n
A new\u00a0Linkin Park\u00a0documentary directed by the band\u2019s Joe Hahn,\u00a0Unshatter, will trace the band\u2019s return to the stage following\u00a0the death of singer Chester Bennington\u00a0in 2017. The film, whose logline is \u201cThe Hardest Part of Ending is Starting Again,\u201d will open in theaters on Sept. 30. Tickets go on sale Aug. 13 with full details on a\u00a0bespoke website.<\/p>\n
A trailer shows the excitement of fans in and around the band\u2019s 2024 gig in S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil and features interviews with band members. \u201cIt\u2019s certainly never been done the way we did it,\u201d the group\u2019s Mike Shinoda says in one clip before addressing Bennington\u2019s death. \u201cSo much of our lives had gone into Linkin Park, and it all just came to a crashing halt.\u201d The musicians express worries that the band was done. And then new vocalist\u00a0Emily Armstrong\u00a0comes into the picture, leading to triumphant concert footage.<\/p>\n
The film covers a span of time beginning with the 2022 recording sessions that yielded their eighth studio album two years later,\u00a0From Zero, which features\u00a0Armstrong and drummer Colin Brittain, to the S\u00e3o Paulo show. The documentary also includes footage from the band\u2019s vault, performance footage, and interviews with the band and its fans.<\/p>\n
A co-founding member of the band, Hahn has played synthesizer and turntables in the band since 1996. He has also directed the band\u2019s music videos for \u201cNumb,\u201d \u201cSomewhere I Belong,\u201d and \u201cBleed It Out,\u201d among several others. In a statement, he explained that\u00a0Unshatter, whose title suggests that something broken could be put back together, wasn\u2019t intended originally as a documentary but as a concert film capturing their 2024 S\u00e3o Paulo show. He sees it now as a thank you to Linkin Park\u2019s fans.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe more we kept the cameras rolling, the more we realized there was a much bigger story unfolding,\u201d Hahn said. \u201cAfter seven years away, we honestly didn\u2019t know what the future of Linkin Park looked like. We were figuring it out as we went. None of us knew if the band would evolve the way it did, how fans would respond, or where any of it was leading. I didn\u2019t want to make a film that looked back on everything with perfect clarity. I wanted people to experience that uncertainty the same way we did in real time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hahn added that because he\u2019s a Linkin Park member and had lived the story \u201cfrom the inside,\u201d he felt a responsibility to be honest. \u201cIt would have been easy to tell the version people expected or the version built from headlines and interviews, but that was never the goal,\u201d he said. \u201cI wanted to capture the conversations, the doubts, the creative moments, and everything in between that only the people living through it could really understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
An album,\u00a0Unshatter Film Soundtrack (Live in S\u00e3o Paulo), out Sept. 25, includes performances of songs from throughout the band\u2019s career. It will also include songs from the concert that Hahn did not feature in the film.<\/p>\n
After a hiatus following Bennington\u2019s death, Linkin Park released\u00a0\u201cThe Emptiness Machine,\u201d\u00a0their first song featuring Armstrong and Brittain, in 2024. They swiftly followed it with \u201cHeavy Is the Crown\u201d and the album\u00a0From Zero.\u00a0Their most recent single, \u201cUnshatter,\u201d came out last year as part of the deluxe edition of\u00a0From Zero.<\/p>\n