Photo Courtesy of Apple Corps Ltd.

Disney has acquired the worldwide distribution rights to Peter Jackson’s documentary “The Beatles: Get Back” and will release the film in theaters in the U.S. and Canada on Sept. 4, 2020, Bob Iger announced Wednesday during the Disney shareholders meeting.

The film was previously announced and features never-before-seen footage from The Beatles’ recording sessions during their album “Let It Be,” including the band’s final live concert as a group, their iconic rooftop performance on London’s Savile Row.

Additional details for the film’s global release will follow.

“No band has had the kind of impact on the world that The Beatles have had, and ‘The Beatles: Get Back’ is a front-row seat to the inner workings of these genius creators at a seminal moment in music history, with spectacularly restored footage that looks like it was shot yesterday,” Iger said of the announcement. “I’m a huge fan myself, so I could not be happier that Disney is able to share Peter Jackson’s stunning documentary with global audiences in September.”

Also Read: Beatles Score $77 Million Default Judgment in Counterfeit Merchandise Case

Jackson worked with Park Road Post Production of Wellington, New Zealand, which previously worked with Jackson on the restoration and colorization for his WWI film “They Shall Not Grow Old.” Together they restored the 50-year-old footage as compiled from over 55 hours of unseen material from Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s 1969 documentary film “Let It Be,” as well as 140 hours of mostly unheard audio recordings from the sessions.

But in addition to “The Beatles: Get Back,” Disney and Jackson will also release a restored version of the film “Let It Be,” which won an Oscar for the title song in 1969 but has been widely unavailable to the public in a digital form for years.

The original film was recorded in January 1969 but was not released until May 1970, three weeks after The Beatles had officially broken up. The film was shot on 16mm and blown up to 35mm, and the 80-minute “Let It Be” movie was built around the three weeks of filming, including an edited version of the rooftop concert.

Also Read: All 60 Grammy Best New Artist Winners, From The Beatles to Adele to Milli Vanilli (Photos)

The new documentary brings to light much more of the band’s intimate recording sessions for “Let It Be” and their entire 42-minute performance on the rooftop of Apple’s Savile Row London office. While there is no shortage of material of The Beatles’ extensive touring earlier in their careers, including Ron Howard’s recent Beatles documentary “Eight Days a Week,” “The Beatles: Get Back” features the only notable footage of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr actually at work in the studio, especially at a time late in their run as the band when they were not always at their most agreeable.

Shot on Jan. 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.

A fully restored version of the original “Let It Be” film will be made available at a later date.

Also Read: 'They Shall Not Grow Old' Film Review: Peter Jackson's Doc Brings WWI to Vivid Life

“The Beatles: Get Back” is directed by Jackson and produced by Jackson, Clare Olssen (“They Shall Not Grow Old”) and Jonathan Clyde, with Ken Kamins and Apple Corps’ Jeff Jones serving as executive producers. “The Beatles: Get Back” is presented by The Walt Disney Studios in association with Apple Corps Ltd. and WingNut Films Productions Ltd. The music in the film will be mixed by Giles Martin and Sam Okell at Abbey Road Studios in London.

“Working on this project has been a joyous discovery. I’ve been privileged to be a fly on the wall while the greatest band of all time works, plays and creates masterpieces. I’m thrilled that Disney have stepped up as our distributor. There’s no one better to have our movie seen by the greatest number of people,” Jackson said in a statement.

“I am really happy that Peter has delved into our archives to make a film that shows the truth about The Beatles recording together. The friendship and love between us comes over and reminds me of what a crazily beautiful time we had,” Paul McCartney said in a statement.

“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,” Ringo Starr said in a statement.

“The Beatles: Get Back” is also being made with the enthusiastic support of Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison.

13 Best Movie Moments Featuring The Beatles Music, From 'Ferris Bueller' to 'Yesterday' (Photos)

The new movie "Yesterday" imagines what it would be like if no one had ever heard of The Beatles, and as one woman says in the film, "the world is a worse place without The Beatles music in it." But several great films would also be worse off without the songs of the Fab Four. That said, Beatles songs are expensive, and only so many films have managed to hit that perfect note. And to make this list manageable, we're excluding movies that exclusively use Beatles songs like "Across the Universe," "I Am Sam" as well as The Beatles own movies "A Hard Day's Night," "Help!" and "Yellow Submarine."
Paramount/Universal/Paramount Vantage/EMI
"Once Upon a Time in America" (1984) - "Yesterday"

In this wistful moment in Sergio Leone's sprawling epic "Once Upon a Time in America," Robert De Niro plays a gangster leaving New York to the sound of an old fashioned, Ennio Morricone score, only to return years later as a now worn old man. As he steps back into 1960s New York to look back on the memories of his former life, Morricone's score blends into a rendition of "Yesterday" that is as forlorn as the movie itself.
Warner Bros.
"Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (1986) - "Twist and Shout"

As a little kid growing up in the suburbs of Chicago not long after this movie was released, I may or may not have tried to impersonate Ferris Bueller's lip syncing to The Beatles version of "Twist and Shout," furiously stomping my feet in unison to the "shake it, shake it, shake it, baby now!" bit at the end. It's a movie moment and song so fun that it inspires the entire city to spontaneously get up and dance or even cartwheel through the air.
Paramount
"Withnail and I" (1987) - "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"

It helps when George Harrison is actually an executive producer on your movie, but the pin drop of Eric Clapton's guitar solo makes for a beautifully surreal and exciting moment in "Withnail & I," Bruce Robinson's autobiographical and alcohol soaked odyssey and cult classic.
Image Entertainment
"Rain Man" (1988) - "I Saw Her Standing There"

It's just a quick verse, but Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman sharing the Beatles song "I Saw Her Standing There" comes at an emotional turning point in Barry Levinson's film, when Charlie Babbitt finally realizes it was his brother Raymond he remembered singing to him as a child.
United Artists
"A Bronx Tale" (1993) - "Come Together"

During this pummeling scene from Robert De Niro's gangster story "A Bronx Tale," "Come Together" plays over the top of what starts as a fairly fun and rambunctious fight scene. "Now youse guys can't leave," Chazz Palminteri's mobster character Sonny says to a biker gang as he locks them in his bar. After one fighter smashes into the jukebox, the song changes and the heavy violence of the scene sinks in.
Universal Pictures
"Pleasantville" (1998) - "Across the Universe"

The Beatles came after the 1950s sitcom period that "Pleasantville" is set in, but Fiona Apple's lush and delicately strummed cover of "Across the Universe" feels timeless and wonderfully fits the film's transformation back into full technicolor.
New Line Cinema
"American Beauty" (1999) - "Because"

There are a few Beatles songs that adorn the soundtrack for Sam Mendes's "American Beauty," but Elliott Smith's ethereal cover of "Because" perfectly captures the tragic, suburban malaise of the movie as the song plays over the film's end credits.
DreamWorks
"The Royal Tenenbaums" (2001) - "Hey Jude"

The Mutato Muzika Orchestra did up this lovely, twinkling, instrumental version of "Hey Jude" that captures the miniature, picturesque quality of the prologue to Wes Anderson's family dysfunction comedy "The Royal Tenenbaums." But the smaller in scope orchestration doesn't change the sweeping, inspiring quality of the melody, which fits Anderson's tone beautifully.
Touchstone Pictures
"Bowling for Columbine" (2002) - "Happiness is a Warm Gun"

Love or hate Michael Moore, he's an expert at mashing up the right pop culture imagery with his montage of news oddities for maximum, propaganda-like effect. This moment from "Bowling for Columbine" couldn't be more on the nose, queued up and fired off right as one of his gun-rights advocates says "There's a lot of whackos out there."
United Artists
"Love Actually" (2003) - "All You Need is Love"

How many couples have attempted their own version of this classic rom-com moment for their own weddings?
Universal
"The Social Network" (2010) - "Baby You're a Rich Man"

"How does it feel to be one of the beautiful people, now that you know who you are," John Lennon sings on "Baby You're a Rich Man." It's a biting, cynical line as David Fincher slowly brings it in before the credits of his millennial masterpiece "The Social Network," with Mark Zuckerberg endlessly refreshing his Facebook page to see if his ex-girlfriend will accept his friend request.
Columbia Pictures
"Not Fade Away" (2012) - "I Want to Hold Your Hand"

"The Sopranos" creator David Chase said that with "Not Fade Away" he wanted to make "a biopic about nobody," a film that encapsulated the ambitious people you never heard of and that heard the life-changing music of The Beatles and were changed forever, even if their circumstances ultimately didn't. "What is that?" the film's lead plainly says when he hears "I Want to Hold Your Hand" for the first time. Other films have used the Beatles' Ed Sullivan show appearance and given the scene a lot more fanfare, but for Chase, that revelation has a far different feeling.
Paramount Vantage
"Yesterday" (2019) - "Help!"

One of the best moments in "Yesterday" comes as the film's protagonist Jack Malik is launching his album to the world with a special rooftop concert. But as he's overwhelmed with stress and pressure from his family, his label and the woman he loves, he takes to the stage and plays a roaring, punk version of John Lennon's "Help." As the song closes, Jack screams "help me" in agony, punctuating Lennon's mournful lyrics on an otherwise upbeat pop-rock song.
Universal Pictures

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“The Royal Tenenbaums,” “The Social Network” and “Withnail & I” have all made use of classics by the Fab Four

The new movie "Yesterday" imagines what it would be like if no one had ever heard of The Beatles, and as one woman says in the film, "the world is a worse place without The Beatles music in it." But several great films would also be worse off without the songs of the Fab Four. That said, Beatles songs are expensive, and only so many films have managed to hit that perfect note. And to make this list manageable, we're excluding movies that exclusively use Beatles songs like "Across the Universe," "I Am Sam" as well as The Beatles own movies "A Hard Day's Night," "Help!" and "Yellow Submarine."

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