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Linkin Park’s reformation and comeback — with a hit album (2024’s From Zero), three No. 1 Mainstream Rock chart singles and two Grammy Award nominations — is one of rock’s top stories of the decade so far.
Now the band is telling the story behind it.
The documentary Linkin Park: Unshatter, directed by group member Joe Hahn, hits theaters for a limited release on Sept. 30, five days after it drops the concert album Unshatter (Live in Sao Paulo).
That Brazilian concert, held on the day of From Zero’s release (Nov. 15, 2024), is a framing device for the film, which chronicles Linkin Park’s decision to get back together six years after vocalist Chester Bennington’s suicide put the brakes on a career that, since 2000, saw sales of more than 100 million records worldwide, five No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 and 19 Top 5 Mainstream Rock singles.
“Originally the film was slated to just be that (São Paulo) concert, the actual experience of watching the show. I thought that wasn’t good enough,” Hahn – who, as Linkin Park’s creative director, has been responsible for most of the group’s music videos — tells Billboard via Zoom.
“I felt like everything deserved an explanation. I wanted to really show what it took to get back on our feet, to explain how this came about, because there’s so much newness. It’s not a switch you can just flip on; it was really a process.
“The process of making this documentary was a healing process as well, because there was so much reflecting involved, and acknowledgement of things that did go right. I think the overall sentiment is a message of hope.”
That said, Hahn considers the film’s Sao Paulo performances (Linkin Park played two shows, also on Nov. 16, before nearly 97,000 fans each at the Allianz Parque stadium) to be incendiary highlights. “There couldn’t have been a better place to do it,” he says. “The Brazilians have always begged us to come play there; we hadn’t played there very much before that. And they were just…insane.”
Like his bandmates, Hahn had no idea when, or if, Linkin Park would come out of the indefinite hiatus it called after Bennington’s death on July 20, 2017 — the birthday of Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell, a friend and mentor who committed suicide two months prior — at the age of 41.
“We were just moving, moving, moving since we were kids,” he explains, “gaining success when we’re, like, 20. It didn’t stop, and then it did and all of a sudden we’re in our 40s. For it to have ended the way it did, there are so many feelings that go with that — loneliness, embarrassment, you name it.
“I think when we just started talking to each other again, there was a great deal of empathy all around, and openness — and also similarity. We were all going through similar enough things to relate to each other in a way that others might not, just because of our own life experience together. We’re kind of an old band but really see ourselves as a new band at the same time. Somehow we got to start over and pick up where we left off. We did it for the right reasons, mainly ’cause we love the music, and we love being together.”
In addition to the concert footage — from Sao Paulo and from the Sept. 11, 2024 Los Angeles concert where Linkin Park revealed its plans as well as new vocalist Emily Armstrong and drummer Colin Brittain — Unshatter features loads of fly-on-the-wall footage, including initial discussions between Hahn, frontman Mike Shinoda and bassist Dave “Phoenix” Farrell about resurrecting the band.
Videographer Mark Fiore, a childhood friend of Farrell’s, has been working with the band (previously known as Xero and Hybrid Theory) since its early days; Hahn refers to Fiore as “almost a seventh member” and says that at this point “we’re so used to it we don’t really know that cameras are rolling. And when I tour, I make sure to take a camera with me and capture as much as I can…Sometimes it can be annoying, but then two years later, 10 years later, 30 years later, I’m like, ‘Oh, wow, I’m so happy I took that picture…’”
The hour-and-50-minute film — subtitled The Hardest Part of Ending Is Starting Again — takes viewers through the reformation process, including the arrivals of Armstrong and Brittain and the writing and recording of From Zero. In one memorable scene, Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus visits and professes “goosebumps” listening to the new tracks in progress.
“I think we were confident in what we were doing,” Hahn recalls, “but at the same time doubtful. We’re human. Things can pop in your mind — ‘Are we doing the right thing?’ What’s so-and-so going to think?’ Some of that stuff never goes away. So to get encouragement like that, and relying on each other for encouragement, kept us going.”
Unshatter references the band’s history, including some early rehearsal footage with Bennington during the end credits, but maintains a focus on recent events. It treads lightly on drummer Rob Bourdon’s decision not to return but goes in-depth with guitarist Brad Delson about his initial reservations, ultimately contributing to From Zero but opting not to tour with Linkin Park.
One thing you won’t see in the film, however, is a moment of dramatic disconnect ala James Hetfield’s temporary walk-out on Metallica in 2004’s Some Kind of Monster — because nothing like that happened, according to Hahn.
“I just approached this to be as honest as possible, don’t manufacture anything, don’t look for conflict,” he says. “Things that are obvious will just be there. This was the aftermath of something terrible that happened. It’s a film about healing. People know the history. They know the tragedy involved and probably already have an idea of what happened. There’s enough there.” That also provided Hahn with impetus to direct the film himself after an “initial instinct” to have someone else helm the project.
“It’s impossible for anyone to come in and be objective,” he notes. “They’re trying to create a story. They’re gonna look for drama, great stories, blockbusters, whatever you want to call it. The whole film revolves around some kind of chaos. It was important to me not to do that…and just tell the story that’s there.”
It’s a story that will continue, Hahn says. As Unshatter rolls out (tickets and theater information can be found via linkinpark.com) the group is planning what’s next — including, Hahn says, some more music videos. He offers no concrete details on new music and other plans, meanwhile.
“I feel like this film is just perfect timing for us,” Hahn says. “It’s bookending everything we’ve done from From Zero and reflects on what it took for us to get here. Everyone was like, ‘OK, let’s make sure we take at least a month off and then let’s get back to work,’ so we’re now writing music again. There’s no timetable, but I think there’s an urgency. We know we can work fast, ’cause we’re so excited to output a lot, so it’s not going to be another five years or a long time before we come out with something new. At the same time we’ve been so in your face a lot with (From Zero) that it’ll be nice to give people a little bit of a break and then reconvene and come up with something really great.”
