Music fans have been looking forward to Peter Jackson’s documentary The Beatles: Get Back since it was announced in early 2019. The film was originally expected to be released by now, but those plans had to be changed in light of the pandemic and the current release date is set for August 27, 2021. Ahead of then, Jackson has offered fans a treat, as he has shared a five-minute video featuring previously unseen footage.
In his introduction of the footage, Jackson was careful to note that the video isn’t a trailer or even an excerpt from the film, but instead a brief compilation of some footage from the 56 hours of source material (which was originally shot for the 1970 film Let It Be) the movie is based on. The video starts with a clip of the band having a jam based on a newspaper headline about George Harrison facing assault charges, then transitions into a clip of Paul McCartney and John Lennon singing “Two Of Us” through clenched teeth. That’s the vibe of the rest of the clips, which show the band having fun together while making music.
Jackson introduced the footage from his editing room and offered a progress report on how the film is coming along, saying, “This film was due to be finished around about now, but like the rest of the world, it’s been affected by the COVID pandemic. The only good thing, really, is that we’re editing the movie in New Zealand. Now that our country has largely stamped out the virus, we are able to come back in the editing room and carry on with the editing that we’re doing. […] I would say we’re about halfway through the edit now.”
Watch the video above.