Ahead of the career-spanning documentary on the life and times of legendary metal icon Ronnie James Dio, Dio: Dreamers Never Die, Ronnie's widow, Wendy Dio, spoke with Entertainment Focus about the film and her late husband’s life. An excerpt follows:

Entertainment Focus: It’s such a pleasure to speak to you about this warm and engaging film. I first saw Dio on their Dream Evil tour in 1987 and then last saw Ronnie when he joined back up with the Black Sabbath boys for the Heaven And Hell project in the mid to late noughties.

Wendy Dio: "Great! What did you think of the film?"

Entertainment Focus: I thought it did a lovely job of portraying Ronnie as a warm, sensitive and clever man.

Wendy Dio: "I agree! I wanted people to see him as he really was. I also wanted the fans to know everything that we went through, right back to his doo-wop days. We were lucky enough to find a bunch of footage of Ronnie from back in the 60s so I hope the fans will enjoy that aspect as well as the Rock stuff too."

Entertainment Focus: Ronnie’s graciousness and warmth runs through the whole film, from beginning to end.

Wendy Dio: "I’m glad you said that because that was really what I wanted people to see. What a wonderful human being he was. He was just a wonderful person, they broke the mould with him. People say you should never meet your heroes but no-one was ever disappointed when they met Ronnie."

Entertainment Focus: Ronnie’s career took place in a time before social media so short of interviews in magazine’s like Kerrang we never got to find out about our heroes, that’s what makes this film all the more rewarding.

Wendy Dio: "I think it takes the viewer through all the different emotions. The good times, the sad times, you know? I am very happy with how the film has turned out. I’m so protective of Ronnie’s legacy so it was very hard to choose a team who would portray Ronnie in the way that I thought he should be seen but they did a great job."

Read more at Entertainment Focus.

Tickets for Dio: Dreamers Never Die, are on sale today at diodreamersneverdie.com.

Presented in more than 500 cinemas worldwide by Trafalgar Releasing and BMG for two days only on Wednesday, September 28 and Sunday, October 2, Dio: Dreamers Never Die explores Dio’s incredible career with his early bands, to his days in Elf and Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, to replacing Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath, and finally cementing his status as a legendary metal icon with his own band, Dio. The film incorporates never-before-seen footage, personal photos, and scenes with his closest peers, family, and friends, including Wendy Dio, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Glenn Hughes, Vinny Appice, Lita Ford, Rob Halford, Sebastian Bach, Eddie Trunk, and Jack Black.

In addition to the feature-length film, this special cinema event will also include a hand-picked selection of outtakes from the cutting room floor that will only be shown at these screenings to create an exclusive experience for fans in attendance.

Ronnie James Dio, who died of gastric cancer in 2010, reigns as one of the most influential rock artists of all time and one of the greatest vocalists ever. With an illustrious recording career spanning from the 1950’s through to the 2000’s, the documentary follows his trajectory from sideman into singer, songwriter and frontman of not one, but three, of rock’s internationally-renowned, multi-Platinum-selling arena attractions: Rainbow, Black Sabbath and DIO. Famous for popularizing the “devil horns” hand gesture that is now synonymous with hard rock and heavy metal music, Dio was known for not wavering in his pursuit of his rock and roll dreams and continues to influence a new generation of music artists.  His fans the world over remember him not only for his massive talent, but for his kindness, resulting in millions of dollars raised for cancer research in his memory.  

Dio: Dreamers Never Die is fully authorized by the artist’s estate, was financed solely by BMG, was directed by Don Argott and Demian Fenton (Framing John DeLorean, Believer, Last Days Here), produced by Don Argott and Sheena Joyce for 9.14 Pictures, and executive produced by Dio’s widow and longtime manager Wendy Dio for Niji Productions and Kathy Rivkin Daum for BMG.

Rhino/WMG will release the soundtrack from Dio: Dreamers Never Die in the fall.   

(Photo - Gene Kirkland)