Peter Jackson's making a Let It Be documentary from 55 hours of unseen footage
Peter Jackson, still nursing his scars from The Hobbit trilogy, will opt for another documentary after wrapping his immersive World War I chronicle They Shall Not Grow Old. This one, however, will take the director off the battlefield and into the studio, as it’s said to follow the making of the Beatles’ swan song, Let It Be. Apparently, the filmmaker has access to 55 hours of previously unseen footage from the 1969 recording sessions.
“The 55 hours of never-before-seen footage and 140 hours of audio made available to us ensure this movie will be the ultimate ‘fly on the wall’ experience that Beatles fans have long dreamt about,” Jackson said in a statement, adding that “the reality is very different to the myth.”
“Sure, there’s moments of drama,” he continues, “but none of the discord this project has long been associated with.”
The footage, which climaxed with the band’s final public performance on the roof of Apple’s London office, was apparently intended for a TV special that never came to fruition. The album, meanwhile, was eventually released in May of 1970, several months following the band’s breakup. Among its many hits are “Across The Universe,” “The Long And Winding Road,” and, of course, its Oscar-winning title track.