Peter Jackson's Beatles Documentary 'Get Back' Delayed Nearly An Entire Year

This fall, Disney would have given fans of The Beatles a wonderful gift in the form of Peter Jackson's documentary The Beatles: Get Back. Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in the movie being delayed nearly an entire year from the original September 2020 release date.

Disney confirmed (via Variety) that The Beatles: Get Back will now be released on August 27, 2021. The project was first announced in January of 2019 as a chronicle of the recording of the band's final album, Let It Be. Though a 1970s documentary of the same name highlights the rehearsal and recording of the album, as well as the breaking up of the band not long after the album's release, it hasn't been officially available on home video since the 1980s, and this new documentary is said to be a much more upbeat affair, featuring plenty of new footage of Paul McCartney, George Harrison, John Lennon and Ringo Starr.

Variety got a sneak peek at the film's trailer and some other footage from the movie earlier this year, and they described the movie as being "brighter both visually and spiritually, with many, many shots of the Beatles joking around, making fun of each other, singing in silly accents and generally indulging in vintage Moptop hijinks." That's something Paul McCartney is happy for fans to see, especially after all the stories there have been about The Beatles fighting among themselves, especially just before the band broke up. McCartney previously said:

"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."

The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr echoed those sentiments when he said:

"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."

Interestingly enough, Let It Be was not actually the final album that The Beatles recorded together, but it was the last album to be released by the band. The album was recorded in January of 1969, and Abbey Road was recorded later that year. However, the band continued to work on Let It Be, which wouldn't be released until 1970, after Abbey Road was released in 1969. The acknowledgment of which album is actually The Beatles' final album is a hot topic of debate among fans.

Regardless of the debate, all fans of The Beatles are undoubtedly excited to get a glimpse are some of the new footage that has been rarely seen by anybody. Peter Jackson has been digging through tons of footage, including 55 hours of never-before-seen footage and 140 hours of audio from The Beatles recording sessions. Jackson says, "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."