The Beatles in Peter Jackson's new documentary The Beatles: Get Back. Photo / Supplied.
The Beatles in Peter Jackson's new documentary The Beatles: Get Back. Photo / Supplied.
Kiwi director Peter Jackson's highly anticipated Beatles documentary is set to land in New Zealand cinemas later this year.
The Beatles: Get Back features extensive, never-before-seen fully restored footage of the legendary band's Let It Be recording sessions along with the entire iconic rooftop concert on London's Savile Row.
The new documentary - directed by Jackson - will be released by Disney Studios in the US and Canada on September 4, with additional details and dates for the film's global release still to come.
Sir Peter Jackson, director/producer of The Beatles: Get Back. Photo / Supplied.
"Working on this project has been a joyous discovery," said Jackson.
The new film paints a different, more positive picture of relations between the band members – John Lennon, McCartney, George Harrison and Starr - to what was previously depicted in Michael Lindsay-Hogg's original 1970 film Let It Be.
Beatles bassist and songwriter, McCartney, is pleased the film will showcase the warmth, camaraderie and humour of the recording of their 12th studio album and their final live concert as a group.
"I am really happy that Peter has delved into our archives to make a film that shows the truth about The Beatles recording together," said Sir Paul McCartney.
"The friendship and love between us comes over and reminds me of what a crazily beautiful time we had."
Drummer Starr echoed McCartney's sentiments saying: "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 is also being made with the support of Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison.
Compiled from over 55 hours of unseen footage, filmed by Lindsay-Hogg in 1969, and 140 hours of mostly unheard audio recordings from the Let It Be album sessions, The Beatles: Get Back is also produced by Jackson, together with Clare Olssen (They Shall Not Grow Old) and Jonathan Clyde, with Ken Kamins and Apple Corps' Jeff Jones serving as executive producers.
The footage has been restored by Wellington's Park Road Post Production, and is being edited by Jabez Olssen, who collaborated with Jackson on 2018's World War One documentary They Shall Not Grow Old.
The music in the film will be mixed by Giles Martin and Sam Okell at Abbey Road Studios in London.
Although the original Let It Be film and the accompanying album were filmed and recorded in January 1969, they were not released until May 1970, three weeks after The Beatles had officially broken up.
The response to the film at the time by audiences and critics alike was strongly associated with that announcement. During the 15-month gap between the filming of Let It Be and its launch, The Beatles recorded and released Abbey Road, which came out in September 1969.
Shot on 16mm and blown up to 35mm, the 80-minute Let It Be movie was built around the three weeks of filming, including an edited version of the rooftop concert. The Grammy-winning Let It Be album topped the charts in the US and the UK.
While there is no shortage of material of The Beatles' extensive touring earlier in their careers, The Beatles: Get Back features the only notable footage of the band at work in the studio, the quartet as they create their now-classic songs from scratch, laughing, bantering and playing to the camera.
Shot on January 30, 1969, The Beatles' surprise rooftop concert marked the band's first live performance in over two years and their final live set together. The footage captures interactions between the band members, reactions from fans and employees from nearby businesses, and comical attempts to stop the concert by two young London policemen responding to noise complaints.
