Whos

Sometimes, even the Google AI Overview gets it right. Sometimes. In searching out confirmation as to when Scott Cooper‘s Bruce Springsteen film, “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere,” first tacked on that “Springsteen,” a quick Google search helped, as did the AI Overview leering at me from the top of the page.

Important findings reigned. First up: “The initial title of the film was ‘Deliver Me from Nowhere,’ based on Warren Zanes’ book” (true!). Next: “The title was officially changed to ‘Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere‘ in June 2025, according to news reports and the movie’s production status updates” (well, really, it was a new trailer, but OK). Finally: “The change was made to make it clear to the audience that the film is a biopic about Bruce Springsteen.” Ah, well.

Except, well, it’s not really. At least, not in the way that a potential movie-goer who is not already a fan of The Boss would expect to see if they’re hitting the multiplex to check out the “Springsteen biopic.” Adding his name to the front of film’s title — again, a title pulled directly from a much-loved and well-known book on the subject — was the first sign that the 20th Century Studios powers that be were getting a little squirrelly about their big fall feature.

What is “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere” really about? As our own David Ehrlich wrote in his review out of Telluride, it “is a semi-desolate sketch of a biopic about a depressed 32-year-old man” who is also “haunted by unresolved childhood trauma and suffering from a depression that he knows how to sing about but lacks the words to diagnose” and “is at its best during the frequent stretches when it finds Bruce staring at the walls of his isolated rental home in Colts Neck.”

Trailers for the film — which has now screened at Telluride, New York Film Festival, and AFI Fest, to name a few, so it’s certainly not hiding — play up the more glitzy and recognizable moments of Springsteen’s career. These are also moments that have relatively little to do with the film itself. If moviegoers are taking marketing on its face, who could blame them for expecting to see a film about Bruce and the E Street Band on the road? That’s what this trailer opens with.

Or, consider this clip, the only one on 20th Century Studios’ dedicated “Deliver Me from Nowhere” YouTube page, which is entirely comprised of a performance of “Born to Run.” For those keeping track, Cooper’s film is about the creation of Springsteen’s album “Nebraska.” “Born to Run” is not a track that appears on that album. And while this performance is indeed part of the film, it’s a very weird pick to represent the entire feature.

Look, I’m the last person to think that a film about a depressive episode in a global superstar’s early career makes for the easiest of sells. (Well, small note here, I think most musical biopics should probably be about a depressive episode in a global superstar’s early career, but I don’t run a film studio.) I get the impulse to try to make this look like something more broad, but that’s a mistake.

I worry that when even casual Bruce fans show up to see the movie, they’ll expect to see what they’ve seen in the trailers: The Boss jumping around on stage, playing “Born in the U.S.A.,” celebrating another smash hit show with the E Street Band. Hell, they’ll expect to see significantly more of the E Street Band in general.

This is not that film. It’s better for it, and it’s also a much tougher sell.

Other marketing, the kind of stuff that people who would need to seek out (like, oh, big fans of Bruce) is more honest, like this featurette all about Cooper’s approach to this specific time in The Boss’ life and career. Cooper isn’t shying away from what sort of film he’s made, even if audiences might be surprised. As he told IndieWire earlier this week, “So many people have preconceived notions about a music film about Bruce Springsteen. Or a film that they want to see, like the ‘Born in the U.S.A.’ or ‘Born to Run’ story. … This is probably the most unexpected story that folks will get about a music icon. … I’m realizing this film is not what people expected. Now, whether it’s what they wanted is another thing.”

If it’s not clear: I am a huge Springsteen fan. I’ve seen him live over a dozen times — that includes actual concerts, performances at premieres (like the NYFF premiere), and quite literally live in his own home studio when I interviewed him for “Western Stars” in 2019 — and the prospect of a biopic uniquely tailored to some of Springsteen’s continuing obsessions, interests, and neuroses is particularly appealing to me. And, based on the general queries I’ve made of other Bruce fans, that holds true for them, too.

(Fun fact: Ehrlich’s older brother is a Springsteen freak who has seen him in concert so many times that he’s pushing triple digits with his count. When I asked David if Steven is excited to see the film, he said he was “frothing at the mouth.”) Now that’s an audience to bank on and appeal to.

Those are not the people who need a trailer or a clip or a title that simplifies what they’re going to see (or, if we’re being more candid about it, just kind of lies about it). Those are the people who will come multiple times, tell their fellow fans to check it out, to champion it. They’re Bruce fans; dedication is part of their DNA. Don’t ever count them out. Like the Boss, they’re tougher than the rest. Selling this film to them does not have to be.

A 20th Century Release, “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere” hits theaters on Friday, October 24.