New King Crimson Documentary, In the Court of the Crimson King, Set for Premiere in March

King Crimson perform live on stage at the Hyde Park Free Concert in London on September 4, 1971
(Image credit: Michael Putland/Getty Images)

A new documentary on the history of prog-rock titans King Crimson, In the Court of the Crimson King, has been announced.

Directed by Toby Amies, and set to make its world premiere at the 2022 SXSW film festival in Austin, Texas, the film follows the band on their 50th Anniversary tour in 2019.

Far from looking exclusively at the present-day King Crimson though, the documentary also explores the band's past – which is as knotty and complicated as the band's music – via interviews with a number of the group's prominent former members. 

You can watch the movie's trailer below.

First formed in 1968, King Crimson have experienced a number of drastic musical and personnel shifts over the last 50+ years, with the sole constant member being electric guitar player Robert Fripp. On more than one occasion, King Crimson have disbanded, only to reform years later with a dramatically different lineup. 

In the Court of the Crimson King's trailer fully explores this bumpy history, with Fripp at one point quipping “This is the first King Crimson where there’s not at least one member of the band that actively resents my presence, which is astonishing.”

Other members from King Crimson's past – including former drummer Bill Bruford and Adrian Belew, who spent over 10 years in total with the band as a singer and guitarist – also appear in the trailer to offer their perspectives on the group.

Bruford, for one, points to King Crimson as "the dream band viewed from outside," while Belew says, “When I came back from making some of that music, my hair had fallen out.” 

For more info on when and where In the Court of the Crimson King will be screened at the SXSW festival, head on over to sxsw.com.

Jackson Maxwell
Associate Editor, GuitarWorld.com and GuitarPlayer.com

Jackson is an Associate Editor at GuitarWorld.com and GuitarPlayer.com. He’s been writing and editing stories about new gear, technique and guitar-driven music both old and new since 2014, and has also written extensively on the same topics for Guitar Player. Elsewhere, his album reviews and essays have appeared in Louder and Unrecorded. Though open to music of all kinds, his greatest love has always been indie, and everything that falls under its massive umbrella. To that end, you can find him on Twitter crowing about whatever great new guitar band you need to drop everything to hear right now.