Peter Jackson gave Beatles fans an early Christmas present on Monday when he shared some pretty nifty footage of the famed U.K. band for his upcoming documentary.
The long-awaited film was supposed to have debuted by now, but was pushed back to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. It is now set to open in U.K. theaters August 27, 2021
In the five-minute video, which you can see above, bandmates Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon mostly goof off in the studio while recording “Get Back,” one of their many hit singles and also the documentary’s namesake.
“We wanted to give the fans of The Beatles all over the world a holiday treat, so we put together this five-minute sneak peek at our upcoming theatrical film ‘The Beatles: Get Back.’ We hope it will bring a smile to everyone’s faces and some much-needed joy at this difficult time,” Jackson said in opening the video.
“The Beatles: Get Back” was originally set to hit theaters in September 2020, but the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic, which has shut down theaters around the world, has forced Disney (and virtually every other Hollywood studio) to rearrange release schedules on the fly.
The film includes never-before-seen footage from The Beatles’ recording sessions during their 1970 album “Let It Be,” including the iconic rooftop concert on London’s Savile Row, which marked their final live performance as a group. In all, the doc features more than 60 hours of unseen footage (filmed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg) and more than 150 hours of unheard audio.
“The Beatles: Get Back” is directed by Jackson and produced by Jackson, Clare Olssen (“They Shall Not Grow Old”) and Jonathan Clyde (“Eight Days A Week”), with Ken Kamins (“The Hobbit” trilogy) and Apple Corps’ Jeff Jones (“Eight Days A Week”) serving as executive producers. Jabez Olssen (“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”) serves as the film’s editor, and the music is mixed by Giles Martin (“Rocketman”) and Sam Okell (“Yesterday”).