“Is it a documentary? A biopic? An animated movie? A musical? A character study?”: Daft Punk to feature in new Pharrell LEGO biopic

Pharell Williams' Lego biopic poster
(Image credit: Focus Pictures)

Daft Punk may have split up but the robots have been spotted in the poster of the upcoming LEGO Pharrell Williams biopic.

Yes, you did read that correctly. Pharrell’s phenomenal success story from the late 90s through to today will be told via the medium of LEGO, the toy bricks we all had when we were kids.

Of course, the French duo collaborated with Pharrell on Get Lucky, the centrepiece of their final album, 2013’s Random Access Memory. You might just have heard it once or twice.

Piece By Piece will also feature ‘appearances’ from Busta Rhymes, Snoop Dogg, Jay Z, Gwen Stefani, Missy Elliot, Teddy Riley, Justin Timberlake, Kendrick Lamar and Timbaland albeit in the form of cartoon plastic bricks.

It certainly makes a difference from your standard talking heads pop doc, anyway.

The film was given its world premiere last weekend at the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado and those who have seen it have given it an unequivocal thumbs up.

Pete Hammond writing in Deadline said that it “brings a freshness and originality to a docu format that makes it feel all new again. Piece By Piece leaves you with hope and a whole bunch of songs you will not be able to get out of your head. Is it a documentary? A biopic? An animated movie? A musical? A character study? You bet - and more. Williams and (director Morgan) Neville have taken it apart and put it all back together to perfection.”

PIECE BY PIECE - Official Trailer [HD] - Only In Theaters October 11 - YouTube PIECE BY PIECE - Official Trailer [HD] - Only In Theaters October 11 - YouTube
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Neville has form in the music documentary format, having won a Grammy in 2013 for 20 Feet From Stardom, his thought-provoking study of the role of the backing vocalist. In an interview with Variety he said of Piece By Piece that: "There are so many great characters, everybody from Snoop to Daft Punk, all these different people are amazing in LEGO.”

He added: "But recreating recording studios and boom boxes, and turntables and all this stuff that hadn’t really been done, people are going to…I want a set of all that stuff! It was a great, creative challenge."

Piece By Piece is released in the US on October 11. In the UK we get it a month later on November 8.

Will Simpson
News and features writer

Will Simpson is a freelance music expert whose work has appeared in Classic Rock, Classic Pop, Guitarist and Total Guitar magazine. He is the author of 'Freedom Through Football: Inside Britain's Most Intrepid Sports Club' and his second book 'An American Cricket Odyssey' is due out in 2025