Beatles fans will get a gift - but not until next summer

Above : The Beatles during the making of their 1970 album “Let It Be.” (Photo: Paul McCartney/Linda McCartney)

By now, most everyone knows about the documentary that Peter Jackson is producing.

Well, most every Beatles fan, at least.

Jackson has come out with a video announcing the project (see embed below), which he is titling “Get Back.” It’s based on some 56 hours of previously unseen footage taken during the production of the Fab Four’s album “Let It Be.”

Anyone who has seen the previous documentary made from the footage, Michael Lindsay-Hogg ’s 1970 film “Let It Be,” knows that this project marked the final time the group would release a collection of original songs.

While earlier Beatles films, especially Richard Lester’s “A Hard Day’s Night” and “Help!” showed the boyish charm that made each of the Beatles such a hit with the public, Lindsay-Hogg’s film carries a more somber feel. It seems to presage what would soon break the group apart.

But the scenes that Jackson has included in what he is calling a “sneak peek” don’t show any of that. They mostly capture each of the four – but mostly Ringo and John – mugging for the cameras. Even Yoko is on hand with a smile or two.

Jackson explains that the movie was supposed to be done by now. But the COVID-19 pandemic interfered. So even though work has recommenced, the projected U.S. release dare is now Aug. 27, 2021.

That’s a depressingly long time to wait, the prospect of which feels like we’re being forced to travel – wait for it …

… a long and winding road.