The Beatles have announced a new film collaboration with director Peter Jackson, focusing on the January 1969 sessions for Let It Be.
The as-yet untitled film will be assembled from 55 hours of previously-unreleased film footage of The Beatles working on the Let It Be album in January 1969, at Twickenham Film Studios and their newly-built Apple Studios in Savile Row, London.
The announcement comes on the 50th anniversary of The Beatles’ concert on the Apple rooftop, their final live appearance and the climax of the Let It Be film.
A restored version of the original Let It Be movie, directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, will be released after the new film.
Here’s the official press release:
London – January 30, 2019 – Apple Corps Ltd. and WingNut Films Ltd. are proud to announce an exciting new collaboration between The Beatles and the acclaimed Academy Award winning director Sir Peter Jackson. The new film will be based around 55 hours of never-released footage of The Beatles in the studio, shot between January 2nd and January 31st, 1969. These studio sessions produced The Beatles’ Grammy Award winning album Let It Be, with its Academy Award winning title song. The album was eventually released 18 months later in May 1970, several months after the band had broken up.The filming was originally intended for a planned TV special, but organically turned into something completely different, climaxing with The Beatles’ legendary performance on the roof of Apple’s Savile Row London office — which took place exactly 50 years ago today.
Peter Jackson said, “The 55 hours of never-before-seen footage and 140 hours of audio made available to us, ensures this movie will be the ultimate ‘fly on the wall’ experience that Beatles fans have long dreamt about – 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.”
Although The Beatles were filmed extensively during the 1960s – in concerts, interviews and movies – this is the only footage of any note that documents them at work in the studio.
The Let It Be album and movie, having been released in the months following The Beatles’ breakup, have often been viewed in the context of the struggle the band was going through at that time.
“I was relieved to discover the reality is very different to the myth,” continues Jackson, “After reviewing all the footage and audio that Michael Lindsay-Hogg shot 18 months before they broke up, it’s simply an amazing historical treasure-trove. Sure, there’s moments of drama – but none of the discord this project has long been associated with. Watching John, Paul, George, and Ringo work together, creating now-classic songs from scratch, is not only fascinating – it’s funny, uplifting and surprisingly intimate”.
“I’m thrilled and honoured to have been entrusted with this remarkable footage – making the movie will be a sheer joy.”
Jackson will be working with his They Shall Not Grow Old partners, Producer Clare Olssen and Editor Jabez Olssen. The footage will be restored by Park Road Post of Wellington, New Zealand, to a pristine standard, using techniques developed for the WW1 documentary film which has been nominated for a BAFTA for best documentary.
The untitled film is currently in production and the release date will be announced in due course. This film is being made with the full co-operation of Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono Lennon, and Olivia Harrison.
The Executive Producers are Ken Kamins for WingNut Films and Jeff Jones and Jonathan Clyde for Apple Corps.
Following the release of this new film, a restored version of the original Let It Be movie directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg will also be made available.
Also on this day...
- 2012: Album release: Ringo 2012 by Ringo Starr
- 2009: Stella McCartney creates Beatles t-shirt for Red Nose Day 2009
- 1970: Ringo Starr meets Elvis Presley
- 1969: The Beatles’ rooftop concert (Apple building)
- 1967: Mixing: A Day In The Life
- 1967: Filming: Strawberry Fields Forever
- 1964: The Beatles live: Olympia Theatre, Paris
- 1963: The Beatles live: Cavern Club, Liverpool (lunchtime)
- 1962: The Beatles live: Cavern Club, Liverpool (lunchtime)
- 1961: The Beatles live: Lathom Hall, Liverpool
Want more? Visit the Beatles history section.
This sounds great! Finally The Beatles will get the farewell-film they deserve!
Of course, not some but many “fans” will cry “history re-writing!!” and no doubt will blame Paul for being the mastermind behind it to erase his image of bossing around the others in the studio…
The fact remains, no matter what new material will be shown, that they DID go through a difficult period of time, having new relationships, trying to find their own ways, maybe on the inside already parted ways, some more than others, but still tied on the outside by their old bond, their success, their name…
I guess they also realized that while the principal idea of stepping back from their recent production excesses and doing everything live was brilliant, the practical side of that meant doing the same song over and over and over again… EVERY musician who ever spent time in a studio with a band having to do this knows: EVERY band can be brought to the brink of breaking up over this!
So no miracle there WERE tensions. And it was a good thing they were able to grow out of their old ways and parts.
So for me personally it’s nice if the reception of their last year together changes a bit more to the positive – and even the hardest anti-Paul fans should remember:
AFTER “Let it be” they still did “Abbey Road”, maybe their best “album”, a true group-effort and masterpiece, so they don’t need any history re-writing anyway to prove they didn’t break up over “Let it be” but still worked as a band – even if they secretly knew this REALLY was their last stand.
Looking forward to this!
The original film was a bore and uninspiring to watch; I can’t imagine just how unimportant this will be.
I’ll stick with the “LIB…Naked” album and be happy with the project.
The original film was not a bore, it was sad but I suppose true of the time. It will be interesting to see how it is re-interpreted.
If it’s Peter Jackson, it will likely end up being three motion pictures, all of them at least 3 hours long.
Thinking back of me borrowing a boot-leg copy of the Let It Be album titled Get Back to Toronto, I road my bike clutching it in 1 hand to the stereo store (remember those?) to have them copy it to RtR for me, As excited I was some 50 years ago then and to buy the actual album and then the film on Laserdisc. I’ve been waiting to have that low video quality production remade/remastered and now maybe, it will be. Thank you from a long time Beatles fan from watching them on a 19” b&w tv on The Ed Sullivan Show.
I would like to see it. Especially the new version of it. Even better, getting both the original and the new version.
This new phase BEATLES album blah blah as re-produced for disc by Phil Spector is now a new phase BEATLES film as re-directed for film by Peter Jackson. If it was wrong for PS to come in and get credit despite the obvious work of George Martin(or, if you prefer,Glyn Johns) why is it ok for PJ to claim a director credit for the work of Michael Lindsay-Hogg?
Because this is almost 60 hours of never before seen film work. I’m not sure why people are already putting it down back in January 2019, when they haven’t seen it yet. Also there’s been no new comments here since a few just on the release date of this story.
Now you’ve seen some of the sneak preview the Jackson released already this past winter 2020-2021, and the announcement just a few days ago that it’s going to be more than just 2 hours released through Disney – it’s going to be a 6-hour documentary, in three separate 2 hours segments. There’s a lot to look forward to here, because no one is seen any of the 60 hours of film work yet. And no less being reproduced with the highest quality resolution ever of any Beatles film work.
‘Because this is almost 60 hours of never before seen film work’.How does that answer the question?
Is it the length of the film or the fact that it hasn’t been seen before,that justifies the re-assignment of authorship? Your comment reads like an advert – do you work for Disney?
Will there be a Let It Be 50th box to accompany the delayed release of the movie?
When will the new revised Let It Be DVD be released?