The director Peter Jackson, known for the “Lord of the Rings” and “Hobbit” trilogies and the new WWI documentary, “They Shall Not Grow Old,” has a new project on his hands: an archival documentary on the Beatles.
The film, which is still untitled, will cull from roughly 55 hours of never-released footage of the band’s 1969 studio sessions that led to their final album, “Let It Be.”
The announcement of the movie comes on the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ final show, that much loved performance on a windswept roof in London.
[How Peter Jackson Made WWI Footage Seem Astonishingly New With “They Shall Not Grow Old.”]
“This movie will be the ultimate ‘fly on the wall’ experience that Beatles fans have long dreamt about,” Jackson said in a statement. “It’s like a time machine transports us back to 1969, and we get to sit in the studio watching these four friends make great music together.”
The footage of the new film will be restored with the same techniques Jackson and his producers used during the making of “They Shall Not Grow Old.” The project has been approved by the former band members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, as well as Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison, the widows of John Lennon and George Harrison.
The “Let It Be” recording sessions were captured in an accompanying 1970 documentary by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, which highlighted the group’s tenuous relations leading to their breakup.
Once Jackson’s movie is released, the Beatles’ management company, Apple Corps Ltd., will also rerelease the original 1970 film.
Source: Read Full Article