Ozzy & Black Sabbath: Back to the Beginning reaches cinemas on October 28, 2026, bringing Ozzy Osbourne’s final farewell performance to the big screen. The Back to the Beginning cinema release is a limited theatrical engagement, with distributor Trafalgar Releasing confirming the date. The film combines performance footage from the Villa Park farewell with reflections from musicians and a behind the scenes look at the day itself.
The concert took place at Villa Park stadium in Birmingham, Osbourne’s hometown, on July 5, 2025. It was captured just 17 days before his death. The sold out show included a solo set from Osbourne and a reunion of Black Sabbath’s original members, performing together for the first time in more than 20 years. The lineup on the night was Osbourne on vocals, Tony Iommi on guitar, Geezer Butler on bass and Bill Ward on drums.
Back to the Beginning: what the film covers
The Back to the Beginning concert film runs 147 minutes and is directed by Tim Van Someren and Ben Wainwright-Pearce. It follows the day from preparations through the performances, with personal reflections from musicians who were shaped by Osbourne and Black Sabbath. The film also shows the scale of the event, which sold out in minutes and drew fans from across generations to Birmingham.
Jason Momoa hosted the event, with Tom Morello serving as musical director. Sets came from Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Slayer, Pantera, Tool, Gojira, Alice in Chains, Lamb of God, Halestorm, Anthrax, Rival Sons and Mastodon. All star segments added guests including Steven Tyler, Yungblud, Billy Corgan, Sammy Hagar, Ronnie Wood, Chad Smith, Travis Barker and Andrew Watt. The range of acts on the bill showed how far the band’s influence reached across rock and metal.
Back to the Beginning concert lineup
The guest list also included Jake E. Lee, K.K. Downing, David Ellefson, Rudy Sarzo, David Draiman, Scott Ian, Frank Bello, Whitfield Crane, Vernon Reid, Papa V Perpetua, Adam Jones, Nuno Bettencourt, Lzzy Hale, Mike Bordin, Danny Carey and Adam Wakeman. The film gives each part of the day room, moving between the main sets and the guest performances. For fans who missed the original event, the cinema version is a chance to see the farewell in a shared setting rather than on a small screen.
Cinema dates and tickets
Back to the Beginning tickets are available through the film’s official site, backtothebeginning.com, which lists cinemas and event information. The September 16 announcement described a limited engagement beginning October 28, and listings vary by cinema, so showtimes and formats differ from place to place. Viewers are advised to check the listing for their own cinema before making plans, since a worldwide opening date does not mean every location offers daily screenings.
Sharon Osbourne, who spent two years organising the event, has praised the film while saying she probably will not watch it again. She described Osbourne as elated on the night and said he went out the way he wanted to. She also spoke about his health before the show, including emphysema that left him struggling for breath and a warning he received 10 days before the performance that he might not make it through the show. He insisted on honouring his commitment.
The Back to the Beginning film arrives as the first cinema release to document the farewell in full. Osbourne was a two time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, honoured both as a solo artist and with Black Sabbath, and a Grammy winning singer and songwriter. Black Sabbath were also Grammy winning Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees. The film frames the Villa Park night as the closing chapter of a career that began in Birmingham and ran for more than five decades.
Back to the Beginning opens in cinemas worldwide on October 28, with the limited run giving fans a shared way to mark the farewell. The film does not add a new concert, but it puts the recorded performance back in front of an audience, in the setting where concert films are made to be seen. The Back to the Beginning cinema run begins with the October 28 date confirmed by Trafalgar Releasing.