Singing superstar Billie Eilish and filmmaking giant James Cameron have teamed up to make a new 3D concert movie, documenting her shows in Manchester last year.
Cameron, of Titanic and Avatar fame, filmed Eilish over four nights at the Co-op Live venue during her Hit Me Hard And Soft world tour – the biggest of her career so far.
The outcome is both a thrilling sensory overload and unique love letter to her intense and adoring fans, who are often in tears.
Speaking to the BBC at the film’s London premiere, Eilish said her fans in Manchester were “one of my favourite audiences ever… I fricking love Manchester”.
Many of those fans travelled to the capital for Tuesday’s blue-carpet premiere, hanging out of windows and lining balconies in Leicester Square for a glimpse of her.
“They didn’t do that for me!” Cameron laughed when the fans erupted into deafening screams as she arrived.
For Eilish, 24, and Cameron, 71, the project is a unique one for both of them. The film came about after a suggestion by his wife, Suzy, who knows Eilish’s mother, Maggie Baird, through their environmental activism.
“Little old James Cameron sent me an email literally saying ‘would you be interested in making a movie of your concert in 3D?'” Eilish explained. “I had never even considered such a thing, it was such an amazing idea.”
The film used new technology in the form of tiny 3D cameras to get up close and personal with Eilish on stage.
During her more energetic moments – she literally sprints from one corner to the other – a cameraman had the demanding job of trying to keep up with her.
“I said ‘Billie, if he gets in your way, just mow him down – and she did!'” Cameron told the BBC.
Sharing the spotlight with Eilish are her fans, who are their own character in the film, Cameron said.
Even at the premiere, some had trouble speaking because they were so overwhelmed with emotions: “This is the happiest day of my life,” exclaimed one.
