Linkin Park’s DJ Joe Hahn talked about the band’s new documentary film, ‘Unshatter,’ and explained even though Chester Bennington doesn’t appear in the doc, he made sure he was ‘always, always around’ while some fans were unhappy that Chester seemed ignored by his former bandmates.
Joe Hahn said, “The story is us trying to pick up the pieces and eventually being able to do so by leaning on each other to get that support and encouragement and eventually be be triumphant.”
“For me, it’s important to show that archival footage at the end because the theme of ‘From Zero’ is to show where things started but also show that even as we move forward, he’s still always part of us, and he’s always there. He’s not in the film getting interviewed or anything, but his presence is always, always around.”
Hahn’s comments place ‘Unshatter’ in a longer timeline that stretches from the band’s silence after 2017 to its return to the stage and the studio. The documentary is not built around absence alone, but around the years of work that followed it.
‘Unshatter’ is directed by Joe Hahn, the band’s turntablist and longtime visual architect, and the film treats the years after Chester Bennington’s death as a question rather than a wound to be displayed. The movie is set to reach cinemas worldwide on September 30, 2026, as a limited theatrical run.
The film focuses on Linkin Park’s 2024 return, seven years after Bennington died in 2017, and it shows how the band reformed with Emily Armstrong on vocals and Colin Brittain on drums. Hahn told BBC News that the group saw the project as a good opportunity to tell its own story.
‘From Zero’ was the band’s first album in seven years and their first with Emily Armstrong, who joined founding member Mike Shinoda and the rest of the lineup as Linkin Park restarted its recording cycle. The record arrived on November 15, 2024, and marked the beginning of a new era for the group.
Hahn has also said the band wanted to be honest about what it had been through. He explained that Linkin Park had to “repair and not be afraid to show” their “scars” while making ‘Unshatter.’ The documentary charts the band’s journey from early 2022 sessions through the making of ‘From Zero’ and their return to the stage.
The film also frames the comeback as a story of endurance rather than a simple reunion. ‘Unshatter’ follows Linkin Park’s return after a seven-year hiatus following Bennington’s death and documents how the members rebuilt the band alongside Armstrong and Brittain.
