WCFL Sound 10 Survey, October 1966, featuring Jim Stagg with the Beatles (photo: WCFL, public domain)
Director Peter Jackson of Lord of the Rings and Hobbit fame will be directing a new documentary about the Beatles.
The film has no official title right now. But it’s being referred to as Let It Be due to the source material.
Jackson will take 55 hours of never-released footage from the band’s 1969 studio sessions, which resulted in their final album, Let It Be. The announcement of the movie and Jackson’s involvement comes on the 50th anniversary of the group’s last show.
Jackson says he’s eager to begin creating something Beatles fans will enjoy.
“This movie will be the ultimate ‘fly on the wall’ experience that Beatles fans have long dreamt about,” Jackson relayed. “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.”
Jackson will restore the film footage using the same process he and his producers used for the World War I documentary, They Shall Not Grow Old. The technology allowed Jackson to restore footage taken nearly 100 years ago.
You can see how that footage was restored to pristine condition in this video feature.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wPeQjbco-U
Several Beatles’ figures have given their permission for the Let It Be footage to be restored using the same techniques.
Former bandmates Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr are on board, along with John Lennon and George Harrison’s widows Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison.
Some of the recording sessions were revealed in a 1970 documentary about the group’s eventual breakup following the album’s release. This 1970 film will be re-released to coincide with the release of Jackson’s untitled movie.
Paul McCartney hinted at a remaster of the unreleased footage last fall in comments he made to the press. “I know people have been looking at the (unreleased) footage,” he said in an interview on Canada’s Radio X.
