Tim Burton Documentary Hits Streaming: Release Date, Where to Watch, and What to Expect
After Mr. Scorsese cracked open Martin Scorsese’s creative psyche, Tim Burton: Life In The Line swoops in to make Halloween even spookier—a four-part docuseries that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in June 2024.
If you like getting inside a filmmaker's head — think the recent Mr. Scorsese doc — there is a new four-part Tim Burton deep dive on the way. And it is rolling out in a very not-normal way.
Release plan: direct from the filmmakers, not the streamers
'Tim Burton: Life In The Line' premiered at Tribeca back in June 2024 and now has a U.S. release set for October 23, 2025. Wood Entertainment — the company behind the film — has the rights and is going the 'self-distribute' route. Translation: you will not find this on Netflix, Max, Hulu, or anywhere else with a browse row.
Instead, it will live on a custom, direct-to-consumer site: TimBurtonLifeintheLine.com. Pricing is set up in tiers, starting at $24.99 for a five-day rental and going up to $74.99 for a premium release option. It is a niche approach — and yes, a pricier one — but that is the trade-off for skipping the usual platforms.
What the doc covers
The series is directed by Tara Wood, who previously made '21 Years: Richard Linklater' and 'QT8: The First Eight', so she knows her way around a career-spanning filmmaker profile. This one stitches together never-before-seen footage, interviews, and Burton's own artwork, tracking him from the Disney days through the big touchstones — 'Edward Scissorhands', 'Sleepy Hollow', and all the way up to 'Wednesday'.
It is framed from the outside looking in, with frequent collaborators and longtime associates filling in the gaps of how Burton's off-kilter ideas kept breaking through the system.
Who shows up
- Johnny Depp — worked with Burton on 'Edward Scissorhands', 'Ed Wood', 'Sleepy Hollow', 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory', 'Alice in Wonderland', and more
- Helena Bonham Carter — 'Planet of the Apes', 'Big Fish', 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory', 'Alice in Wonderland', and more
- Winona Ryder — 'Beetlejuice', 'Edward Scissorhands', and 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice'
- Michael Keaton — 'Beetlejuice', 'Batman', 'Batman Returns', 'Dumbo', and 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice'
- Danny Elfman — the composer behind a stack of Burton scores, including 'Batman' and 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'
- Jenna Ortega — 'Wednesday' and 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice'
- Christoph Waltz — 'Big Eyes'
- Mia Wasikowska — 'Alice in Wonderland'
The bottom line
Four episodes, a director with a solid track record, rare material from across Burton's career, and a roll-out that bypasses the usual streaming giants. If you want it on launch day, you're heading straight to the film's own site on October 23, 2025 in the U.S., and you're choosing between the $24.99 five-day rental or the $74.99 premium tier. Unconventional? Absolutely. Fitting for Tim Burton? Kind of perfect.