Disney Sets Release Date For Peter Jackson’s Beatles Documentary

Peter White
·3 min read

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Peter Jackson’s upcoming Beatles documentary, which includes a slew of unseen footage of the “Let It Be” rockers, is coming to theaters in September.

Disney executive chairman Bob Iger revealed Wednesday that The Beatles: Get Back will launch in the U.S. and Canada on September 4 The announcement was made during Disney’s annual general meeting of shareholders.

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The Beatles: Get Back includes footage from studio sessions that have never been seen or heard before as well as their final live performance on a rooftop in London. Iger said the restored footage was “spectacular” and “it looks like it was shot yesterday.”

It will include 55 hours of in-studio footage that was shot in early 1969 for the 1970 feature film Let It Be. It is produced by Apple Corps Ltd and Jackson’s production company WingNut Films. The Beatles: Get Back is directed by Jackson and produced by Jackson, Clare Olssen and Jonathan Clyde, with Ken Kamins and Apple Corps’ Jeff Jones serving as executive producers.

The footage has been restored by Park Road Post Production of Wellington, New Zealand, and is being edited by Jabez Olssen, who collaborated with Jackson on 2018’s They Shall Not Grow Old.

“No band has had the kind of impact on the world that The Beatles have had, and The Beatles: Get Back is a front-row seat to the inner workings of these genius creators at a seminal moment in music history, with spectacularly restored footage that looks like it was shot yesterday,” said Iger. “I’m a huge fan myself, so I could not be happier that Disney is able to share Peter Jackson’s stunning documentary with global audiences in September.”

Jackson said; “Working on this project has been a joyous discovery. I’ve been privileged to be a fly on the wall while the greatest band of all time works, plays and creates masterpieces. I’m thrilled that Disney have stepped up as our distributor. There’s no one better to have our movie seen by the greatest number of people.”

Paul McCartney said: “I am really happy that Peter has delved into our archives to make a film that shows the truth about The Beatles recording together. The friendship and love between us comes over and reminds me of what a crazily beautiful time we had.”

Ringo Starr added: “I’m really looking forward to this film. Peter is great and it was so cool looking at all this footage. There was hours and hours of us just laughing and playing music, not at all like the version that came out. There was a lot of joy and I think Peter will show that. I think this version will be a lot more peace and loving, like we really were.”

The Beatles: Get Back is also being made with the enthusiastic support of Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison. A fully restored version of the original Let It Be film will be made available at a later date.

 

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