Stardust (1974 film)

Connolly said he and Puttnam were thinking about a sequel to That'll Be the Day even before the latter film was released, and they went on holiday to Italy to plan it. "This time we knew we were going to make a film about rock," wrote Connolly. "It was the story of young Britain in the Sixties." The film originally had the title of Sooner or Later. That'll Be the Day was directed by Claude Whatham but he and Puttnam clashed during filming so it was decided to get a new director. The film was offered to Alan Parker who had worked with Puttnam in advertising but Parker decided to make The Evacuees instead. The job went to Michael Apted who had been the first choice to direct That'll Be the Day and had recently begun work in features with Triple Echo. Finance came from Nat Cohen of EMI Films, who had helped finance the original, and Columbia Pictures.

David Essex, Rosalind Ayres, and Keith Moon all reprised their roles from That'll Be the Day. Karl Howman also appears in both films, though his character name is Johnny in That'll Be the Day and 'Stevie' in Stardust, and it is not made clear if Paul Nicholas's 'Johnny' in Stardust is the same character as the one originally played by Howman. After making That'll Be the Day Essex had become a pop star himself with the record Rock On. Connolly wrote that the role of the band's American manager was originally written as an Italian American from the Bronx with Tony Curtis in mind, but when Curtis proved too expensive, native Texan Larry Hagman was cast and the part was rewritten as a Texan. According to Connolly, Adam Faith was cast after Ringo Starr, who had played "Mike" in That'll Be the Day, declined to appear in the sequel because "having lived through the experience in reality as a member of the Beatles he wasn't keen to revisit it."

Filming began on 18 February 1974. Location filming was done in Britain, Spain (Castillo de La Calahorra), and the United States. Essex had recently become a real life rock star with his 1973 hit song "Rock On", and was mobbed by a large crowd of his actual fans while filming the funeral scene at St. Bernard's Church in Northolt, London. Musician Dave Edmunds recorded the new music used in the movie "virtually as a one man band".

Essex wrote in his memoirs that he did not feel Stardust was as "truthful" as That'll Be the Day which he felt "had been a very British film whereas I think with Stardust the producers had one eye on doing well in America, which may have been partly why we went to film there. It was a good movie, but it ended up being a little bit mid Atlantic."

BAFTA Writers' Guild of Great Britain for Best Original British Screenplay WINNER: Ray Connolly. BAFTA Best Supporting Actor NOMINATED: Adam Faith.

The film is the sequel to the 1973 film That'll Be the Day, in which Essex played the younger Jim MacLaine throughout the 1950s and early 1960s. An independent radio drama recording project, That'll be the Stardust!, was released in 2008. The story follows the musical journey of Jim MacLaine's son, Jimmy MacLaine Jr.