Martin Scorsese announces new Beatles documentary about how the Fab Four broke America
Film includes newly recorded interviews with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr
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Martin Scorsese’s documentary about The Beatles’ first visit to America will be released next month, it has been announced.
The Scorsese-produced Disney+ film Beatles ‘64 was directed by David Tedeschi and will stream exclusively from the online platform from 29 November 2024.
It follows the moment the Fab Four touched down at Kennedy Airport in New York City on 7 February 1964, which led to Beatlemania sweeping the city and the rest of the US.
Footage will show their debut performance on The Ed Sullivan Show, watched by a TV audience of more than 73 million, along with never-before-seen clips of the band and their legions of young fans.
Live performances from The Beatles’ first US concert at the Washington, DC Coliseum along with their Ed Sullivan appearances, have been “demixed” (where AI is used to separate the vocal and instrument stems in a recording) by Peter Jackson’s Wingnut Films studio.
They were then remixed by Giles Martin, producer and son of “the Fifth Beatle”, the late producer, composer and arranger George Martin.
Surviving members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, who serve as co-producers, also appear in new filmed interviews to discuss their recollections of that historic time.
Other listed co-producers include John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s son, Sean Ono Lennon, and George Harrison’s wife, Olivia Harrison.
Jeff Jones and Rick Yorn serve as executive producers. Scorsese previously directed the 2011 Harrison documentary, George Harrison: Living in the Material World.
A new mastered edition of seven US Beatles albums has also been announced to coincide with the film’s Disney+ release.
Originally compiled for release by Capitol Records and United Artists in America between January 1964 and March 1965, the mono albums have been out of print on vinyl for almost 30 years.
Meet The Beatles!; The Beatles’ Second Album;A Hard Day’s Night (Original Motion Picture Sound Track); Something New; The Beatles’ Story (2LP); Beatles ’65; and The Early Beatles are available now for preorder in a new vinyl box set, titled The Beatles: 1964 U.S. Albums In Mono. Six of the titles are also available individually.
Disney+ has been busy with a number of major music documentary releases in recent months. In May, the surviving members of The Beach Boys were reunited for a film of the same name.
This month sees the release of a new Bruce Springsteen documentary, while another about renowned film composer John Williams is scheduled for release on 1 November.
Beatles ‘64 is released on Disney+ on 29 November.
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