Joe Perry Will Miss West Coast Premiere of Hollywood Vampires Film

Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry will not attend the West Coast premiere of Unleashed Spirits: The Rise of the Hollywood Vampires, he said on his social media feeds on Thursday afternoon, as Deadline reported.

The screening was set for 8 pm Pacific time on Thursday, October 22, at the Lido Theater in Newport Beach, California. It was part of the 27th Newport Beach Film Festival, which ran from October 15 to 22, 2026. The theatre listed the show as sold out, running from 8:00 to 10:30 pm.

The listing had promised a live question-and-answer session after the film with its director, Daniel E. Catullo III, and members of the Hollywood Vampires. That group came together in 2012 with Alice Cooper, Joe Perry and Johnny Depp. The film is about the band.

Perry's reason for staying away was work. He cited Aerosmith performing together for the first time in three years, and rehearsals for two upcoming shows at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. Those concerts are scheduled for October 29 and November 1, and Live Nation, the concert promoter, is handling them.

Perry did attend the film's world premiere in Boston on September 18, so the Newport Beach screening was the West Coast step of a rollout that began on the East Coast.

Premieres often lean on the people on screen to answer questions afterward, and a missing guest changes the feel of the night. Still, the film's first public showing was already behind the team, and the Lido event went ahead as scheduled on the listing.

For fans, the next chance to see Perry on stage is at the Hollywood Bowl at the end of the month, not at a festival screening.