The concert film will celebrate the five-year anniversary of Coloring Book. Chance could have gone the streaming service route, but he elected to pitch his concert film idea to AMC Theatres a few months ago with hopes of immersing moviegoers into his full concert experience. “There’s just something different about going to see something in theaters, instead of watching it in your bed or whatever,” he said. “I always knew that I wanted this to be experienced in a group and on a huge screen with crazy surround sound.”
Chance led the film’s editing process and self-distributed the film through his House of Kicks umbrella, which reimagines music, film and virtual experiences. His partnership with the theater chain marks the first time a music artist has independently distributed a film through AMC. “The appreciation for Chance’s dazzling creation is a genuine demonstration of the power and emotional connection audiences have with Chance, and how they feel while watching his work on the big screens of AMC,” said Adam Aron, CEO and president of AMC Entertainment said. “This is a reminder of the uncharted programming possibilities at AMC, and we are thrilled to blaze this path with Chance The Rapper and his team.”
Magnificent Coloring World features a variety of stages designed by Chance and was filmed on a soundstage within three and a half weeks. The rapper said he wanted to tell a unique story with each frame with the help of director Jake Schreier, who directed the 2015 film Paper Towns. While developing the concert film, Chance said watching it made him eager to perform in front of a live audience. He’ll make his first and only in-person performance this year at Summerfest in Milwaukee in September.
“It made me super thirsty,” the rapper said before adding that watching the film also helped him tweak certain parts of his onstage performance. He said music festivals like Summerfest are needed for him and people who “love the ability to experience live music.” “Watching a performance of mine from four years ago, I’m like ‘I would have done this’ or ‘I would have done that,’” he said. “I’m saying to myself ’I can’t wait to perform this particular song now. I’m looking at it as a performer, but also as a filmmaker.”
Chance drew inspiration to create his project from other musicals and concert films such as Roger Waters: The Wall in 2014 and Michael Jackson’s 1988 Moonwalker. He thinks more musicians should look to directly distribute to theaters. The rapper plans on stepping behind-the-camera more as a filmmaker. “The climate makes us feel like we have to go straight to VOD or do a smaller festival circuit sometimes,” he said. “But I think the theater business could use it. The industry of filmmakers could use it too.”
