ALICE COOPER Documentary In The Works

Canadian documentarian Sam Dunn of Banger Films ("Metal: A Headbangers Journey", "Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage") recently spoke to Spinner.com about the Alice Cooper documentary he is currently working on.

"We know Alice through various projects that we've done," he said. "We interviewed Alice for 'Headbanger's Journey'. He's also featured pretty prominently in two episodes of [the new groundbreaking documentary series] 'Metal Evolution', both in [the] Shock Rock and Early Metal U.S. [episodes]. He's a pretty fascinating character, who has been through a lot in his life. He's one of those musicians that maybe he hasn't had a hit in a long time, but everyone knows who Alice Cooper is because of his influence on pop culture and the big songs he had in the '70s. . . We're in the early stages of telling the story of his career. We're probably going to focus in on his early years up to his comeback in the '80s. We're exploring a different stylist approach with this film. It won't be talking heads; it's going to be more of an archival and animated journey through his career. He's such a rich visual artist, it makes so much sense to try and do it in a different way. I think we're just a little bit sick of doing talking head interviews, to be honest [laughs], after doing 300 of them for 'Metal Evolution'. So it's really the story of Alice's career from the '60s right up to the '80s and everything he went through — the ups and the downs, battles with alcoholism, being raised in a Christian family, rebelling against that but then coming back to faith later in his career, and moving from town to town, and trying to find his place."

The Alice Cooper documentary is tentatively scheduled to premiere at the TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in September 2012.

Alice Cooper's new album, "Welcome 2 My Nightmare", sold 18,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 22 on The Billboard 200 chart. Cooper's previous CD, 2008's "Along Came A Spider", opened with just under 10,000 copies to land at No. 53.

Recorded with longtime collaborator Bob Ezrin, who produced the original multi-platinum "Welcome To My Nightmare" album in 1975, "Welcome 2 My Nightmare" picks up right where they left off, with Alice trapped in his own warped mind.

That original album is an all-time rock classic that spawned a worldwide theatrical tour and pioneering U.S. TV special and cemented Alice Cooper as a visionary trailblazer whose influence persists today in rock, metal, pop, punk, theater, television, film and much more.