The producer behind the Oasis reunion documentary has said the Gallagher brothers shared “no high-five, no hug [and] no tears” after 16 years apart.
Steven Knight, who wrote and produced Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger, said Liam and Noel were “English working-class blokes being what they are” when they reunited after their split and falling out in 2009.
Discussing the moment when the Manchester-born brothers met after almost two decades of estrangement, Knight recalled: “Here are two people who haven’t been in the same room together for 16 years.
“There’s no high-five, no hug, no tears. There’s not even any words. It’s English working-class blokes being what they are. They just go into it.”
The filmmaker, who has been commissioned to write the new James Bond movie for Amazon MGM Studios, revealed that the Gallagher brothers were “absolutely committed” to making their reunion work in part because of the naysayers.
He said: “Part of their motivation was that a lot of people were saying, ‘This isn’t going to work. They’re going to fall apart.’
“Both of them were like, ‘No, I’m going to do this.’ They were absolutely committed.”
Oasis, who signed to Creation Records in 1993, soared to fame after the brothers released their debut chart-topping album Definitely Maybe on Aug 29, 1994.
The Britpop band achieved global hits with songs such as Champagne Supernova, Wonderwall, Supersonic and Live Forever.
However, Noel quit the rock group in August 2009, saying he “simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer”. The pair were known for their feuds, which sometimes descended into physical altercations.
They announced, to great fanfare, that they were reuniting for a Live ’25 tour, which sold out within minutes of going on sale and was estimated by Forbes to have generated more than £293m in revenue.
More recently, the band has announced a 2027 tour, which will include a return to Knebworth more than 30 years after two notable gigs at the Hertfordshire park.
Discussing the group’s lasting popularity and the reunion tour success, Knight said: “In the 90s, their hopeful message fitted. That’s what people were thinking. The Cold War was over.
“Now we live in a time where that’s the opposite, which is why I think these songs are important.
“The point I’m trying to make in the film is that, at a time of spite and division and anger, here are two people coming together, and audiences coming together. It’s a good, old-fashioned, corny 1960s spirit.”
The documentary, directed by Will Lovelace and Dylan Southern, is available on Disney+ from Friday, Oct 9.