Wednesday, January 30, 2019
Director
Peter Jackson is heading back to the
Apple Corps rooftop and the studio sessions that led to
The Beatles final album,
Let It Be, for a new documentary.
Jackson is working with 55 hours of never-released footage of The Beatles shot in January 1969. The filming, originally intended for a TV special, became
Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s theatrical release
Let It Be, famous for the Fab Four’s performance on the roof of Apple's Savile Row London office.
The film has no title nor an expected completion date.
Paul McCartney,
Ringo Starr,
Yoko Ono Lennon and
Olivia Harrison are cooperating with the project.
"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, an Oscar winner for
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

“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”.
The Executive Producers are
Ken Kamins for Jackson’s
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 will also be made available.
Jackson’s doc on WWI,
They Shall Not Grow Old, will be released in the U.S. on Friday and his partners from that film will work with him on the Beatles project, producer
Clare Olssen and editor
Jabez Olssen.