Gary Oldman, Oscar-winning actor and David Bowie’s close friend and collaborator, will provide narration for the upcoming David Bowie Is mobile app, a digital adaptation of the touring museum exhibition honoring the late musician. The Augmented Reality edition, available on iOS and Android, is out January 8th – which would have been Bowie’s 72nd birthday.
In a statement, Oldman said it was a “privilege to be involved” in the project, adding, “This brings the amazing David Bowie Is exhibition to a wider audience. It’s great that his fans get to experience it.” The duo, both born and raised in South London, first met in the late 1980s and became close friends; they appeared together in Julian Schnabel’s 1996 film, Basquiat, and Oldman starred as a priest in Bowie’s controversial 2013 video for “The Next Day.”
David Bowie Is first opened in March 2013 at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England and closed in July 2018 at the Brooklyn Museum in New York City. Victoria Broackes and Geoffrey Marsh curated the exhibit, which showcased hundreds of costumes, handwritten lyrics, original artwork and videos.
The virtual adaptation, a collaboration between the David Bowie Archive and Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc, features digital interpretations of the original museum experience at the Victoria and Alberta Museum. The Augmented Reality version allow users to explore 3D renderings of the artifacts – including many not featured in the original exhibit – in 360-degree detail, along with Bowie’s music and narration. A Virtual Reality version is scheduled for a later release.