Martin Scorsese making a documentary about New York Dolls' David Johansen

Martin Scorsese is directing a documentary about New York Dolls frontman David Johansen that will be out via Showtime sometime in the future. The film, which is co-directed by David Tedeschi (who has edited many of Scorsese’s recent projects like last year’s Dylan doc Rolling Thunder Revue), is based around a performance Johansen gave at NYC’s Café Carlyle earlier this year that featured songs from throughout his career and stories from his life.

“I’ve known David Johansen for decades, and his music has been a touchstone ever since I listened to the Dolls when I was making Mean Streets,” says Scorsese in a statement. “Then and now, David’s music captures the energy and excitement of New York City. I often see him perform, and over the years I’ve gotten to know the depth of his musical inspirations. After seeing his show last year at the Café Carlyle, I knew I had to film it because it was so extraordinary to see the evolution of his life and his musical talent in such an intimate setting. For me, the show captured the true emotional potential of a live musical experience.”

According to Showtime, the film will “reveal the many faces of Johansen…Growing up on Staten Island, Johansen landed in New York’s East Village in the late 1960s; a 16-year-old dropped into the epicenter of the counter-cultural revolution in music, theatre, fashion, art, writing, and social change – a seismic moment that still reverberates today. Johansen’s musical career started in the 1970s as lead singer for the punk/glam pioneers the New York Dolls, continued as he helped to usher in the swing revival as Buster Poindexter in the 1980s and dug deep into the blues with the Harry Smiths in the 1990s.”

No release date for the film has been announced yet. Stay tuned.

Coming much sooner to Showtime: The Go-Go’s documentary which airs August 1 on the network (and its streaming apps).