Credit: Rob Shanahan
The premiere of Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson‘s much-anticipated Beatles documentary, The Beatles: Get Back, was recently pushed back from September 4 of this year to August 27, 2021, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
During a recent Zoom press conference, Ringo Starr said he was “disappointed” about the delay, and discussed how he felt about the footage he’s watched so far, which Jackson is putting together using over 50 hours of unseen footage shot in early 1969 during the making of the Let It Be documentary and album.
Starr revealed that the one finished part he’s seen is extended footage of The Beatles’ famous performance on the rooftop of Apple Records’ London headquarters.
“[I]n the [Let It Be] movie it was, I’m guessing, 10 minutes long,” Ringo pointed out. “It’s now 36 minutes long, and it is incredible.”
As previously reported, Get Back will offer a more positive look at the Beatles members’ relationships during the making of Let It Be than did the original film, which focused extensively on the tensions between the band members.
“I always believed that the one that came out was a bit dull, and it stuck to one second of what happened between the boys,” Ringo maintained.
He noted that, in contrast, in some of the raw footage Jackson showed him, “[W]e’re all laughing, we’re telling jokes, we’re having fun, we’re playing…And it’s a lot more joy.”
Regarding the film’s postponement, Starr explained that since February, Jackson “hasn’t been allowed to get into his studio… And it’s been put off till next year.”
As for whether the planned 50th anniversary reissue of the Let It Be album also will be delayed until 2021, Ringo said, “I would think it’s all coming [out] together.”
By Matt Friedlander
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