Peter Jackson has announced that he is set to follow up his acclaimed World War I documentary They Shall Not Grow Old with a new project based around The Beatles, which will be assembled from 55 hours of never-before-seen footage of the Fab Four from January 1969 during the recording of the 1970 album Let It Be.
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.
“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,” said 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.”
The as-yet-untitled project will employ similar techniques to that of They Shall Not Grow Old in order to restore the footage to a pristine standard, and is being produced with the full cooperation of Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono Lennon, and Olivia Harrison. Further details will be announced in due course.
