New Edit of Beatles Movie ‘Let It Be’ Could Happen Soon
Paul McCartney said a new edit of the Beatles movie Let It Be could enter production in the near future.
The original 1970 documentary hasn’t been available in home formats since 1982 as a result of scenes that showed the band in a negative light as the members moved toward their split.
The Daily Beatle reported that McCartney had been asked about the movie during a recent radio interview. “We keep talking about that," he said. "We have meetings. … People have been looking at the footage.” He added that he’d been told that a great deal of the unused material showed “a bunch of guys making music and enjoying it.” “Who knows, that may be happening in a year or two," he noted.
You can listen to the full interview below.
The report also quoted Let It Be cinematographer Tony Richmond, who'd previously said a proposed DVD remaster had been blocked “by George’s Harrison’s estate and his wife and Yoko Ono, because they don’t want the acrimony shown.” In 2007, Apple Corps boss Neil Aspinall said "the film was so controversial when it first came out. When we got halfway through restoring it, we looked at the outtakes and realized: this stuff is still controversial. It raised a lot of old issues.”
Discussing a potential re-release in 2018, McCartney told Rolling Stone that he'd had no objection to the idea, though he added that the "objection should be me. I don’t come off well." He went on to explain that he was "one of the votes" on the board of Apple Corps, and that Ringo Starr, Ono and Olivia Harrison counted as much as he did.
"That’s the secret of the Beatles – can’t do three to one," he said. "During the breakup was when it got screwed up – we did three against one. But now it has to be unanimous. The two girls are Beatles."