The Seven Network has confirmed it will premiere the feature documentary based on the life Australian music legend Jimmy Barnes, just days after he performs at the AFL Grand Final.
Based on the best-selling book and now a box office smash, Jimmy Barnes: Working Class Boy gives audiences an up close and personal insight into how the once unknown boy, James Dixon Swan, became the household name and Aussie icon we know today as Jimmy Barnes.
The film opened in cinemas last month to critical acclaim and had the biggest opening ever for an Australian documentary, overtaking the opening of Bra Boys in 2007. The film also had the biggest opening for a documentary since Michael Jackson’s This Is It in 2009. The documentary broke box office records, hitting 220 screens and reaching almost $500K over its opening weekend, and over $750K to date.Â
Acclaimed director Mark Joffe (Jack Irish, House of Hancock, The Man Who Sued God) has crafted an unflinching, powerful and transcendent documentary that is raw, confronting and at times darkly funny.
The film explores Jimmy’s childhood as he retraces his earliest steps through the hard streets of Glasgow before reliving his South Australian upbringing all while uncovering the deep and raw themes of domestic violence, poverty and alcoholism.
The documentary also features captivating musical moments of Jimmy, Cold Chisel and special duets by Jimmy’s children, Mahalia Barnes and David Campbell, plus his brother-in-law, Diesel.
This landmark feature documentary is based on Jimmy’s acclaimed memoir, Working Class Boy. His self-penned book won the 2017 ABIA Award as Australia’s ‘Biography of The Year’ and spent a staggering 16 weeks at #1. It has sold over 250,000 copies, making it one of the biggest autobiographies in our country’s history.
Jimmy Barnes: Working Class Boy will premiere Monday, October 1 on Channel Seven.
