Martin Scorsese Will Direct Robbie Robertson Tribute Concert Film

Martin Scorsese will direct the filming of Thursday night’s Life Is a Carnival: A Musical Celebration of Robbie Robertson.

The concert is taking place at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, and is scheduled to feature Trey Anastasio, Ryan Bingham, Mike Campbell, Eric Church, Eric Clapton, Elvis Costello, Warren Haynes, Bruce Hornsby, Jim James, Jamey Johnson, Noah Kahan, Daniel Lanois, Taj Mahal, Van Morrison, Margo Price, Robert Randolph, Nathaniel Rateliff, Allison Russell, Mavis Staples, Benmont Tench, Don Was, Bobby Weir and Lucinda Williams.

Scorsese was already listed as a producer of the concert, though further details on what format the film will take have not been announced. Several of the aforementioned musicians will take the show on the road for the Life Is a Carnival: Last Waltz Tour ’24, which begins Oct. 19.

Martin Scorsese and Robbie Robertson’s Relationship

Scorsese and Robertson’s working relationship and friendship went back decades. Scorsese directed the 1976 concert film The Last Waltz, marking the last performance of the Band’s five-man lineup. In the years that followed, Robertson often scored music for Scorsese’s films, including but not limited to The King of Comedy (1982), Gangs of New York (2002) and most recently Killers of the Flower Moon (2023).

“I mean, we’re in awe ourselves that our brotherhood has outlasted everything,” Robertson said in an interview with Variety not long before he passed away in August of 2023. “I am so proud of our friendship and our work. It’s been just a gift in life.”

READ MORE: Why Robbie Robertson Never Reunited With the Band

“Robbie Robertson was one of my closest friends, a constant in my life and my work. I could always go to him as a confidante. A collaborator. An advisor. I tried to be the same for him,” Scorsese said in a statement following Robertson’s death. “It goes without saying that he was a giant, that his effect on the art form was profound and lasting. There’s never enough time with anyone you love. And I loved Robbie.”