Disney+ spoils Beatles fans as hidden film given Get Back treatment next month

Even some 64 (hey, someone should write a song about that number) years after their formation, The Beatles are still arguably the most influential band of all time. John, George, Paul and Ringo truly changed popular music forever.

They entertained the world once more in 2021 when at the height of the pandemic, DIsney+ released the Peter Jackson-directed documentary The Beatles: Get Back and the world got to see so much more of its favourite band. 

In that documentary we saw George spontaneously quit the band and rejoin, a bunch of inspiration hitting the group in rehearsals and ultimately an impromptu rooftop concert in full. It was an amazing job by Jackson to turn what was essentially old archive footage into a glorious technicolour three-part documentary, and clearly also a labour of love for the famous Lord of the Rings director.

Well, now the film of the album that the Fab Four were working on in that documentary- Let it Be, is set to get a similar upgrade with Jackson working to restore  Michael Lindsay-Hogg's original. Released just as the band broke up, it's often associated with the sadness that millions felt from The Beatles going their separate ways (none of the band turned up to the premiere). Hoping to separate it from this context, the new enhanced version of Let it Be will hit Disney+ on May 8th. 

Amazingly, the film has been hidden away since its release in 1970. It hasn't been on any of the best streaming services and there is no Blu-Ray or DVD version, leading many to assume it would never see the light of day. But now, many younger fans (myself included) will finally get the chance to watch it for the first time. 

Disney+ is fast becoming the destination for music lovers. As well as being the home of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour movie (a three-and-a-half-hour epic) it also has Elton John's Farwell Yellow Brick Road film and will also be the home to the IMAX sensation Queen Rock Montreal when Freddie Mercury and co hit the platform on May 15th. Even better, that will be the first concert movie with DTS IMAX-enhanced sound.