--- description: There's going to be a lot of dancing, for starters title: Justin Timberlake and Jonathan Demme Are Making a 'Space Age Music Film' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3aaaf13fc0700459/6988618bab6d77441c6a5f4c/justin-timberlake.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Justin Timberlake and Jonathan Demme Are Making a 'Space Age Music Film' by [Chris Lee / Entertainment Weekly](/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Chris Lee / Entertainment Weekly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 29, 2015 3:26 PM CUT  Justin Timberlake at the 2015 iHeartRadio Music Awards in Los Angeles on March 29, 2015. Justin Timberlake at the 2015 iHeartRadio Music Awards in Los Angeles on March 29, 2015.Steve Granitz—Getty Images by [Chris Lee / Entertainment Weekly](/author/entertainment-weekly/) ## Chris Lee / Entertainment Weekly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 29, 2015 3:26 PM CUT After star turns in a string of movies including _The Social Network_, _Inside Llewyn Davis_, _Friends With Benefits_, and _Runner Runner_, Justin Timberlake basically abandoned Hollywood and went back to his day job: international pop superstar. Releasing [back-to-](http://www.amazon.com/The-20-Experience-Justin-Timberlake/dp/B00BCZU8WM "undefined")[back](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E1LPK40/ref=pd%5Flpo%5Fsbs%5Fdp%5Fss%5F3?pf%5Frd%5Fp=1944687742&pf%5Frd%5Fs=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf%5Frd%5Ft=201&pf%5Frd%5Fi=B00BCZU8WM&pf%5Frd%5Fm=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf%5Frd%5Fr=0T8HS6G827D0BHHFXGZN "undefined") studio albums in 2013, he set out on the 134-date “20/20 Experience World Tour” that saw Mr. [SexyBack](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gOHvDP%5FvCs "undefined") touch down at arenas across North America, Europe and Australia/New Zealand over a span of nearly 14 months. Now, fittingly enough, that musical career reprise may end up heralding Timberlake’s multiplex return. He enlisted director Jonathan Demme — the Oscar-winning eminence responsible for _The Silence of the Lambs_ and 1984’s Talking Heads rockumentary _Stop Making Sense_, as well as this August’s Meryl Streep-starring rock ‘n roll dramedy [_Ricki and the Flash_](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/08/04/ricki-and-flash-ew-review "undefined")— to film the final date on the “20/20” tour at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena. And this fall, Demme plans to edit the footage into an independently financed, as-yet untitled feature. “It’s very emotional, very exciting,” says Demme with barely contained enthusiasm. “It’s a space age music film!” The filmmaker knows of what he speaks. After all, Demme is uniquely acquainted with the demands of capturing live performance, having produced and directed a trilogy of concert documentaries for Neil Young — _Neil Young: Heart of Gold_, _Neil Young Journeys_ and _Neil Young Trunk Show_ — a concert doc for Kenny Chesney and a music video for Bruce Springsteeen (not to mention helping [transform Streep](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/08/07/how-meryl-streep-turned-rock-star-ricki-and-flash "undefined") into a credible bar band singer-guitarist for Ricki). Demme credits Timberlake’s old school showmanship — his current predilection for slicked back hair and tailored tuxedos, silken footwork and big band swing — with the overall sweep of the film, which has yet to ink a distribution deal. “There’s tremendous dancing in this piece,” says Demme. “He’s got an extraordinary band called the [Tennessee Kids](http://justintimberlake.com/band "undefined"). Huge horn section, two lead guitars, two drummers, eight dancers, four exquisite background singers. And we caught them on their last performance.” Of Timberlake, the filmmaker adds: “He’s a funky Fred Astaire!” _This_ [_article_](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/08/28/justin-timberlake-and-jonathan-demme-are-making-space-age-music-film "undefined") _originally appeared on_ [_EW.com_](http://www.ew.com "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4015989/justin-timberlake-jonathan-demme-space-age-music-film/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4015989/justin-timberlake-jonathan-demme-space-age-music-film/"},"headline":"Justin Timberlake and Jonathan Demme Are Making a 'Space Age Music Film'","datePublished":"2015-08-29T15:26:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:32:56.175Z","description":"There's going to be a lot of dancing, for starters","url":"https://time.com/4015989/justin-timberlake-jonathan-demme-space-age-music-film/","keywords":["movies","Music","Justin Timberlake"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3aaaf13fc0700459/6988618bab6d77441c6a5f4c/justin-timberlake.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Chris Lee / Entertainment Weekly"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3aaaf13fc0700459/6988618bab6d77441c6a5f4c/justin-timberlake.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Justin Timberlake at the 2015 iHeartRadio Music Awards in Los Angeles on March 29, 2015.","caption":"Justin Timberlake at the 2015 iHeartRadio Music Awards in Los Angeles on March 29, 2015.","creditText":"Steve Granitz—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4015989/justin-timberlake-jonathan-demme-space-age-music-film/","name":"Justin Timberlake and Jonathan Demme Are Making a 'Space Age Music Film'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon Rap their Way Through SNL History","description":"Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon rap their way through SNL history.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/dW0d8NJU/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-02-16T02:33:31.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/dW0d8NJU.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4015989/justin-timberlake-jonathan-demme-space-age-music-film/","duration":"PT26S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4015989/justin-timberlake-jonathan-demme-space-age-music-film/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```