NewsPeter Jackson would love to offer an ‘extended cut’ of The Beatles Get Back
3 or 4 hours of extra footage could be added
At yesterday’s global premiere of the IMAX presentation of The Beatles Get Back: The Rooftop Concert (attended by SDE in London), director Peter Jackson revealed that he would love to offer an extended cut of the full Get Back documentary that would add three to four hours of footage, including full length performance clips and “important conversations” that deserve to be heard.
He urged fans to petition Disney and Apple Corps, if this is something they would like to see, since he indicated that Disney may be reluctant to allow him to do this.
Jackson also revealed that, as part of the research for his editing process, he and his team interviewed as many people as they could, who were there at the time, so he could understand “the truth” of the events that took place, including during the famous Rooftop Concert sequence. He told the audience that he thought if they were going to interview all these people, they may as well film them “for posterity”. In yesterday’s live interview with Jackson, which was broadcast around the world to various IMAX cinemas, he showed a clip of the infamous PC Ray Dagg (the policeman who tried to stop the concert) being interviewed on the top of 3 Savile Row, which would have taken place a few years ago. Peter said that if/when Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s original Let It Be was issued on DVD or blu-ray, he hoped such interviews might form part of the bonus material.
Other points of interest that came out of the interview:
- ALL Let It Be filmed footage has been restored and handed back to Apple for future use, not just what Jackson needed for his documentary.
- He said that the isolated audio feed from the vox pop interviews on the street confirmed that The Beatles were indeed very loud, contrary to opinions which thought their equipment/amps would not have made such a racket. People had to “speak up” to be heard over the noise
- Peter offered much praise to original director Michael Lindsay-Hogg for his direction and for the impressive 10-camera set-up for the rooftop concert, although he jokingly pointed out that the hidden camera in the reception area of 3 Savile Row was the “worst hidden camera ever” since it was hidden in a big white “garden shed” and was rather obvious (there’s a few shots of it in the documentary).
- Lindsay-Hogg was “herding cats” much of the time and Jackson was impressed by his patience, saying that he would have read the “riot act” to The Beatles a few times if he’d been the director. Jackson also expressed incredulity that any grand concert event could have been organised in time (as is talked about constantly during the Get Back doc) because while he has “hundreds of people” helping him on set when he makes films, Lindsay-Hogg appeared to have a team of “two people”.
- Jackson made the point that The Beatles we see performing up on the rooftop are the Fab Four from the Cavern Club and Hamburg rather than the group filmed at Shea Stadium, for example. Like the early days in Liverpool, this was a lunchtime performance and indeed, John Lennon jokes a few times about taking requests, which is something they used to do at the Cavern.
SDE can confirm that this special one-hour ‘Rooftop Concert’ (not ‘Rooftop Performance’, as the audio stream is branded) is identical to what is in the full Get Back documentary. It is not a special re-edit. All the interviews with people are still in the cut. It does start with the intro at the very beginning of Get Back – which gives you the potted history of The Beatles – and then cuts to the activity on 30 January 1969. The post-Rooftop footage remains (i.e. listening to playback and recording bits of ‘Two of Us’, ‘The Long and Winding Road’ and ‘Let It Be’).
Competition!
Would you like to win a Get Back: The Rooftop Concert IMAX lanyard and poster? These were given away to people who attended the IMAX screenings yesterday and Mrs Sinclair has kindly donated hers for this SDE competition! The posters measure around 16″ x 11″ and are on decent quality card. We will find a tube to put it in! Simply enter below – good luck!
This competition has now closed. The winner has been announced here.
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77 thoughts on “Peter Jackson would love to offer an ‘extended cut’ of The Beatles Get Back”
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Hated the bloated, slow burn doco except for the revived rooftop concert. How about a stripped back version with just the concert ? :D
Kind of agree. That intro worked at the front of an 8-hour documentary, but not a 40 minute concert.
came across this petition here on another forum – may be worth a signature
https://www.change.org/p/walt-disney-the-beatles-get-back-extended-cut?redirect=false&fbclid=IwAR1in5QC3erMmj0wLQC6QNN25CosDAnjrcIOSsQBxjviQlmee6RA3cbQlv0
These petitions, which I’ve come across many times before, seem to be mostly about asking for “donations”.
yeah not sure what donations would be for? In all honestly, they will probably do as they please regardless of any petitions – unfortunately!
Well done Albert for winning the competition!! You deserve it mate!!
The blu ray and DVD have been delayed as glitch was discovered in the sound. One source has quoted the release being put back to Sept. Do you think that Disney might have realised that there is a market for an extended cut?
I doubt that, because it would mean cancelling all existing orders and asking people to order again at (presumably) a higher price. If anything I’d say (if true) this makes an extended cut even less likely in the near future.
The poster and lanyard were a nice bonus from the screening. Congrats to the winner!
Did you Londoners get a card as well? It’s about business-sized, with the Let It Be images on one side, and a QR and discount code for the usastore.thebeatles.com on the reverse.
No! Not fair! ;)
I may have a spare….
Kind of you to mention Glen, but I can live without it :)
damn the DVD has been delayed
I would love that poster (and lanyard), as it would go well with my Beatles 45’s Case from 1964.
I’m in, take my money now.
Loved the documentary, would love more content as long as it didn’t compromise what has already been created and would love to get my hands on that poster!
I found the street interviews more interesting than I thought I would. Agreed it would be nice to see the concert (at least as an alternative) without them. Everyone remember the woman who said she had been woken-up!
P.S. Paul – Points of interest…, paragraph 2 – “there” equipment – sorry!
Also, Mark Lewisohn conducted filmed interviews in 2003 for the Let It Be Naked project to be used on the accompanying DVD release that didn’t happen. Apple still have that footage so maybe that could be included
The focus now should be on the Let It Be film and bonus content for that.
Good luck to everyone
Hi Paul
Would SDE be up for submitting a petition on behalf of us all (we can all actively agree to put our names on the petition) supporting the Peter Jackson additional footage proposal? Every bit helps as I believe Disney has a reputation of acting only if it is clear the commercial opportunity is there.
I made this one to try to get something going
https://chng.it/pT8RCkKScK
Really kind of you to set this up but there is another petition which has 800+ signatures. Are you able to get yours combined in this
https://chng.it/FxTYBwQyXZ
Paul Could you highlight this in a post please so that as many people know about it thanks.
Thanks for the info. I went to my petition and updated the people who signed it about this larger one and asked them to sign this one.
Good luck to all, amazing prize especially for all of us that didn’t get the chance to go.
It was great to see the IMAX presentation, of course. I fervently hope, though, that the soon-to-arrive blu ray set has an option to watch the rooftop performances through just the cameras aimed at the band, without the extraneous ‘man-in-the-street’, ‘cops arriving in Apple’, and all that stuff. Give us the band and nothing but the band, please!
Peter Jackson did make the point in the interview before the IMAX showing that the decision to do the split-screen for the Rooftop Concert was partly influenced by the fact that he didn’t want people to “miss anything” in terms of what was happening with the band while we are cutting to a bloke in the street. He also said he really enjoyed the vox pop interviews and thought they were ahead of their time and quite important to the whole fabric of the Rooftop sequence.
Who want to see and hear what the bloke in the street says when The Beatles are playing? I’m not sure of the others but i’m the one who gladly miss all of that stuff!
People that are forced to watch this by their Beatles obsessed boyfriend/ girlfriends might be glad to hear the man on the street yacking!!!
I.e if your musical tastes are opera and you hate rock” n” roll!!!
I know it seems odd but there are people out there who think the Beatles are shit!
The Scottish woman who said she didn’t like it ‘cos it woke her up’ she was worth the vox pop in itself. ;)
Hi,
I would like to win IMAX lanyard and poster because
it’s not possible to see the IMAX Cinema Rooftop Concert in France.
I don’t know why.
I highly suggest listening to the podcast linked by Stevie B in the comments here. Preferably at 1.5x speed. it is quite a long podcast but very informative on the documentary. it was recorded prior to the group of interviewers watching the doc itself.
Surely that bonus could be available in the next edition and even included in the film if they are restored and mixed . I think that is a silly thing to see those 4 hours in clips separately.
Ugh. Maybe cut those interviews for a separate bonus film. The original movie is already bloated as hell.
That’s exactly what Peter Jackson was suggesting. Bonus content for a Let It Be release.
Would love to see the original ‘Let It Be’ film restored and upgraded (but not re-edited) in 4K, with all of the peripheral interview mentioned and the extended Get Back cut.
We were going to go yesterday but a blizzard in our area (Boston) changed our plans. Thanks for the report Paul, I’m in for the competition!
Another three or four hours? I really hope that Peter Jackson can convince the big bosses of Disney,to decide to publish them. We would need an intervention from Paul and Ringo…
Great recap, Paul. Thank you for taking and sharing your notes!
Disney is protective but they also love $. No good reason for them not to release an extended cut.
Peter Jackson is calling on fans to petition Apple and Disney but how do we go about it in an organised manner. Any Thoughts?
BTW something I spotted in the credits that hasn’t been picked up on is that the publishing credits for the Lennon/McCartney songs originally published by Northern songs between 1963 and 1965 are now published by Sony AND MPL. Is this the agreement that Paul came to a couple of years ago? 1966 onwards still credit just Sony or ATV Sony
I’m up for a massive concerted effort to fill Apple’s inboxes.
Don’t they do Love Me Do? I think MPL owns the Ardmore and Beechwood catalogue.
Release EVERYTHING. There is definitely a significant market for it
IMAX? What’s an IMAX? Greetings from darkest Hereford.
At that point, things are not very clear, but there’s a possibility that the Get back boxset is already obsolete because there are other, more complete, recordings that will eventually be released.
I imagine that the people who payed 90 quid for a box with four half-empty CDs and an even-emptier “extended” play will be less-than-pleased that they have may have to shell out again for the rooftop concert.
Great Beatles night yesterday at the BFI. Saw you at the exit Paul, but didn’t want to bother you.
As much as I enjoyed the evening and seeing (and hearing!) The Beatles on an IMAX screening, I was still disappointed that we didn’t get a full concert cut without the street chatter.
My question to Peter Jackson was if we would ever get to see the original 18hour cut, but that didn’t get picked. I was still happy to know that he’s very much willing to extended the 8hour cut and that he has plenty of extras ready for the original Let It Be release, which I imagine will be forthcoming.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CZXc-wtM_oO/
Here’s a link to a fascinating podcast (4 hours long) about the Beatles project, MAL AI software etc…
https://youtu.be/QSLb7cpHy00
There’s a 4 hour podcast with Peter Jackson. The information about MAL his AI system is very intriguing (to be able to remove instruments so he could hear John & Paul chatting about George quitting and the canteen conversation) and the possibility that MONO tracks can be made into surround sound.
I’d gladly pay for a ‘Get Back’ ‘Let it Be’ Boxset. Also he discusses how the book, Disney+ and Boxset projects were all from the viewpoint of who was doing them, there was no-one saying that they compliment each other so hence why the Boxset didn’t include the full Rooftop Concert. Each person decides what they wanted to present.
Finally, I wasn’t aware that the future threetles came back in January 1970 to record ‘I Me Mine’ because it was a ‘catchy tune’ but in the film it’s only rehearsed at Twickenham never properly recorded. Believe that was the last Beatles recording session.
“Mono into surround”… fab, so hopefully no more excuses from Giles re not being able to remix the first seven albums then!
Well, there’s a lot of stuff from 1967-68 left off the box sets that could be remixed by good old Giles. There’s no need to list the tracks, everybody knows what I’m talking about.
Loud in the street? Well of course. Just revisit your dodgy Yellow Dogs for the full Nagra vox-pops. The Fabs sounded great in the street. The sound blotted out ordinary chatter…
Still can’t believe that the policemen stopped the performance just half an hour after it began. Amazing!
In reality they were more or less done anyway. George acknowledges this later with a comment about how they can ‘pretend’ that The Police stopped things.
A splendid initiative. May the best win, that is, the luckiest. An affectionate hug to everyone and a greeting from Rome, Italy.
I’d love the poster and lanyard too!
And I’ll certainly be tweeting the call – who wouldn’t want to see more?
Thank you Mrs Sinclair for the donation of your lanyard for this competition. I had hoped to go to an IMAX screening, but our Glasgow one has closed.
Would you ask your husband if he’d consider putting together an open letter to Apple Corp and Disney, which I would be happy to support?
If you use twitter you could retweet this post > https://twitter.com/sdedition/status/1488098981783691269
With those three video chapters,I have discovered many things about Ringo, George, Paul and John as persons (not idols or musicians). It was very interesting for me. And if they want to add more material, with more new and interesting details about the band, the moment, circumstances and the persons… it would be great, indeed.
I don’t think anyone would rinse multiple releases and repeat sales to the same fans out of Beatles music.
wow thanks for the offer and the full run down. So much to take in there and yet again we are left wondering about what the future might hold – but maybe its not such a bad thing – its showbiz after all and i guess they will always leave us wanting more!
This has surely GOT to happen?
Thanks for the competition!
Thanks for the info, Paul. It would be great to get an extended cut with full performances and an audio release.
Great times for Beatles fans!
Thank you for the offer ! And bring the extended cut. Who would not want 4 more hours of Beatles footage ?
Just entered to the competition ( I hope to be the winner, the poster is amazing!!!! ) and, of course, I’ll retweet your tweet about the petition for the extra hours! Hope Hope Hope!!!! Thanks Paul!
Nice going Paul! I’d love to know who else was there etc.
Percy from Blackadder was there (Tim McInnery, who was having a glass of red in the cafe beforehand). So was Iain Lee, Mark Lewisohn, probably loads of other well-known folk..
Were you not tempted to sing ‘Captain Darling, please believe me…’ to the tune of ‘Oh! Darling’?
Were you not tempted to say, “Oi! Lewisohn! Get back to that laptop and get Volume 2 out!”
I spotted Pete Paphides and Caitlin Moran, plus interviewer Matt Everitt of course. Have to say I was delighted to see Mark Lewisohn picking up his lanyard and poster, just like all us other fans!
A few people came up and said hello to me, which is always nice!
Paul you’re just as famous as everybody else there, to us here at SDE.
Steady… :)
Great to see that the “Rooftop Performance” is back at the London IMAX from Thursday evening (Feb 10th) for a few more showings, at the much more palatable price of £10 per ticket… The original £40 price was rather outrageous. I can cope without the lanyard and the poster!
Loving the rooftop performance on Apple Music with Atmos. Would love a physical release but my 3 months for £10 sub is good enough for now