A little more than a year ago, Peter Jackson announced that he was going to begin work on a new documentary focused on The Beatles and the mythical Let It Be recording sessions. At the time, a distributor was not announced, but fans of Jackson and the iconic rock band were elated because it was reported that the filmmaker gained access to dozens of hours of film that was recorded during the making of the album, which would provide the most comprehensive look at the behind-the-scenes machinations of the band yet.
READ MORE: Peter Jackson To Direct A New Beatles Doc About The ‘Let It Be’ Recording Sessions
And now, Disney has announced that the company will be the distributor behind the upcoming doc “The Beatles: Get Back” and will release the film in theaters this fall. The film is built from footage filmed by director Michael Lindsay-Hogg, who used some of it already for the “Let It Be” documentary. However, there’s still hours and hours of unreleased footage as well as previously unused audio recordings that will be completely remastered and used for Jackson’s new film.
“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 Disney’s Bob 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.”
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Jackson added, “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.”
It’s worth noting that the documentary and filmmaker Peter Jackson have the full support of surviving members of the band, as well as widows, Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono Lennon, and Olivia Harrison.
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.”
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” will be released in the US and Canada on September 4, with more international territories added later.
