Trailer for John Lennon Biopic "Nowhere Boy" Debuts

The trailer for Nowhere Boy, a film based on the teenage years of the Beatles' John Lennon, debuted this week, just days before its premiere tomorrow at the London Film Festival. The movie, directed by Sam Taylor-Wood, was filmed in Lennon's boyhood city of Liverpool and stars British actor Aaron Johnson as Lennon. The film is based on a book by Lennon's half-sister Julia Baird called Imagine This: Growing Up With My Brother John Lennon and details the singer's early life, when he was being raised by his Aunt Mimi, played here by Kristen Scott Thomas, and his own mother Julia.

Look back at John Lennon's New York years.

As the trailer demonstrates, the film will also feature the teenage Lennon meeting Paul McCartney — played by Thomas Sangster — for the first time. The two would later be band mates in the Quarrymen, which laid the foundation for one of the greatest bands of all time. But Nowhere Boy is less about the Beatles' development and more focused on analyzing Lennon's relationships with his mother and aunt. Julia died in a car crash in 1958 at the age of 44; John was only 17 at the time.

A Day in the Life: early shots from before the Beatles blew up.

It's unclear whether the film secured the rights to use the Beatles' music in the film, and the trailer doesn't offer up any clues. What we do know is that Goldfrapp will be contributing to the film's score and the movie hits theaters in the U.K. on December 25th, but no U.S. release date has been scheduled yet according to IMDB. Rolling Stone previously reported that the Weinstein Company had picked up the distribution rights to the film, but it is not currently on their schedule.

Get all of Rolling Stone's essential Beatles coverage.

Related Stories:
• John Lennon Biopic "Nowhere Boy" Grabbed by Weinstein Company
• John Lennon: Remembering the Beatle on His Birthday
• The Beatles' Remasters: Ultimate Guide to the Fab Four's Career

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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