EXCLUSIVE: David Bowie origin story Stardust, which was due to debut at Tribeca next week, is instead to get a live ‘online red carpet’ and screening for buyers and press.

London-based sales firm Film Constellation is making up for Tribeca’s postponement due to coronavirus with a digital launch through a bespoke online platform. The invite-only screening next Wednesday will include a live video introduction with writer-director Gabriel Range and stars Johnny Flynn, Marc Maron and Jena Malone.

Flynn (Emma) stars as a 24-year-old Bowie as he embarks on his first trip to America, only to be met with a world not yet ready for him. The film reveals the inspirations and life events that gave birth to Bowie’s iconic alter ego, Ziggy Stardust, charting the transformation of one of the world’s great cultural icons. Malone (Vice) will play his then wife Angie and Maron (Glow) is playing his record company publicist.

Meanwhile, public festival premieres for the film are being discussed with distributors and programmers for the fall.

Film Constellation launched a similar initiative a couple of weeks ago for horror pic Relic, which was due to play at SXSW. The company says it had hundreds of industry RSVPs for the film.

“Stardust is a highly-anticipated film in the marketplace,” said Fabien Westerhoff, CEO of Film Constellation. “We’ve reached out to our buyers and are excited to offer them this unique opportunity to engage with Gabriel’s film in a timely, safe and controlled environment. Our first digital market premiere was an overwhelming experiment, with several hundred buyers tuning in simultaneously within 24 hours across five continents. We can’t wait to take this novel buyer experience to the next level with a live component to it.”

Stardust was written by Christopher Bell and Range and produced by Paul Van Carter, Nick Taussig and Matt Code. Executive producers are Fabien Westerhoff, Christopher Figg and Robert Whitehouse. The film was produced by UK-based Salon Pictures (McQueen), and is a co-production with Wildling Pictures in Canada. Film Constellation, which financed the film alongside Piccadilly Pictures, is handling international sales.