Ozzy & Black Sabbath's final show is coming to cinemas worldwide

Ozzy Osbourne's final live performance is going to be relived in cinemas worldwide on October 28, and the excitement around it is bringing back the intensity and the sentiment of the original concert. For anyone who never got to see Ozzy perform live, or anyone who did but would like to experience it again, this is a big deal.

The film, called Ozzy & Black Sabbath: Back to the Beginning, captures the concert that took place at Villa Park in Birmingham on July 5, 2025, at which Ozzy, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward performed together for the first time in more than 20 years.

"The greatest day in heavy metal history"

The official announcement on Ozzy's website describes the concert as "the greatest day in heavy metal history", and maybe it was.

The show was exceptional in so many different ways: Ozzy Osbourne's farewell performance in his hometown, only 17 days before his passing; the reunion of Black Sabbath's original members on stage for the first time in more than two decades; a solo set from Ozzy sitting in a giant throne; the fact that 45,000 tickets sold out in just 16 minutes.

Another thing that made it special was the amazing number of rock legends who were also part of the event, making it feel like a festival rather than a concert. Beyond Ozzy and Black Sabbath, the crowd enjoyed sets from Alice in Chains, Guns N' Roses, Metallica, Pantera, Slayer, and Tool (among other performers and many special guests, but you get the idea).

The show was hosted by Jason Momoa (Aquaman star) with Tom Morello, the Rage Against the Machine guitarist, who also served as musical director for Back to the Beginning. Morello said of the concert that "there's never been anything like that that's happened in the history of rock and roll".

A once-in-a-lifetime homecoming

For Birmingham, this was not just another concert. It was an occasion so intimate and so massive at the same time that it will probably be engraved in the city's history for generations to come. You see, Ozzy was a true local, a working-class hero who never forgot where he came from.

An expert quoted by Birmingham City University said the concert "created the feeling that we were living in a festival that had spilled over onto the streets", as rivers of people crowded the city in the days surrounding the event. A review by ITV News also described the event as one of the biggest musical homecomings the city had experienced, with an emotionally charged atmosphere as fans arrived from all over the world.

There was a charitable side to the event too: all profits were donated equally between Cure Parkinson's, Birmingham Children's Hospital and Acorns Children's Hospice.

And 17 days later, when Ozzy passed away, the response was once again extraordinary. Fans paid tribute in the most unexpected ways, leaving anything from toys to watermelons on sidewalks around the city.

Back to the Beginning, an immersive audio-visual experience

The film is being presented as a global cinematic release that will be in cinemas for a limited time only. With Dolby Atmos and 5.1 surround sound, Back to the Beginning promises to be an immersive audio-visual experience with "unprecedented clarity and power", according to the official statement.

The footage, which lasts approximately two and a half hours, was directed for the screen by Ben Wainwright-Pearce, who is known for his editing work on Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour and George Michael: The Faith Tour.

The film is centered on Ozzy's farewell and Black Sabbath performance, but it also shows a lot more than the group's final show, including extraordinary performances by other artists, behind-the-scenes footage of the event and touching statements from musicians they inspired.

The official press release quotes Sharon, Ozzy Osbourne's wife and manager, saying she had asked Ozzy what would really make him happy, and he said the only thing that would make him happy was if he could perform again and say goodbye to his fans. "That's all he wanted to do. He wanted to say goodbye and thank you."