Peter Jackson has signed on to direct a new documentary on the making of The Beatles’ last studio album, “Let It Be,” according to an announcement Wednesday from by Apple Corps Ltd. and WingNut Films Ltd., Jackson’s production company.
The core of the new film will be 55 hours of previously unseen in-studio footage from the band’s recording of the album, shot between Jan. 2 and Jan. 31, 1969.
The album was eventually released 18 months later in May 1970, several months after the band had broken up. The album, as well as a film of the same name, produced the Oscar-winning title track as well as classic tunes like “Across the Universe,” “The Long and Winding Road” and “Get Back.”
No date has been set for the release of Jackson’s untitled new film.
“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. “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.”
According to the news release, the filming was originally intended for a planned TV special. The shoot climaxed with The Beatles’ memorable performance on the roof of Apple’s office on London’s Savile Row — which took place exactly 50 years ago, on Jan. 30, 1969.
Jackson, a three-time Oscar winner for co-writing, directing and producing 2003’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” last year directed another found-footage documentary, “They Shall Not Grow Old,” based on unseen archival footage of World War I.