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Peter Jackson would love to offer an ‘extended cut’ of The Beatles Get Back

3 or 4 hours of extra footage could be added

By Paul Sinclair

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77

Peter Jackson talks to fans on 30 January 2022 at the global IMAX premiere of The Beatles Get Back: The Rooftop Concert
Peter Jackson talks to fans on 30 January 2022

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.

Fans wait for the IMAX screening to start (click image to enlarge)

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.

SuperDeluxeEdition.com helps fans around the world discover physical music and discuss releases. To keep the site free, SDE participates in various affiliate programs, including Amazon and earns from qualifying purchases.

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77 Comments

77 thoughts on “Peter Jackson would love to offer an ‘extended cut’ of The Beatles Get Back”

  3. 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?

    1. 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.

  4. 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.

  9. 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!

  10. 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

  13. 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.

  15. 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!

    1. 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.

        1. 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!

  17. 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.

  18. 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.

  25. 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

  28. 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.

    1. 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.

  29. 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/

  31. 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.

      1. 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.

  35. 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?

  36. 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.

  38. 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!

      2. 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!

      3. 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!

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