Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson announced Wednesday that he is making a new documentary out of some 55 hours of Beatles footage that has never been seen by the public. The footage, shot in January of 1969, follows the band during their12th and final studio album, Let It Be. The new documentary will be an encore to a previous documentary from the same time period. The original movie came out in 1970, and has long been viewed as a chronicle of the band members’ tension near the end of their historic grouping. Jackson says that the additional footage paints a different picture. “It’s simply an amazing historical treasure-trove,” Jackson said. “Sure, there’s moments of drama—but none of the discord this project has long been associated with.” The film is being made with the cooperation of Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono, and Olivia Harrison, the widow of George Harrison. No release date has been set.
