Disney+ Releases 'Let It Be' Trailer

When the Walt Disney Company first launched Disney+ in November 2019, it famously said it was throwing open the doors to the "Disney vault" and letting out all those movies and TV series that had been tucked away for generations, only allowing occasional releases. The problem, of course, was that streaming is a gaping maw of endless content devouring. Great, said viewers; what's on tap for next month? Apparently, Disney decided to find other vaults to throw open, this time, ones that Anglophiles and dads would like. The streaming service is releasing a restored version of The Beatles' final film, Let It Be, originally released back in 1970 in the weeks after the band called it quits and stored away in their vault since 1980.

This is the second time Disney+ has dipped into the world's first boy band for content; in 2021, it premiered the three-part docuseries The Beatles: Get Back, which filmmaker Peter Jackson made using outtake footage from the Let It Be film. Unsurprisingly, Jackson's Park Road Post Production, using the same technology to make Get Back, is also behind the restoration of the original movie. Though at the time, Let It Be was seen as a depressing film by fans, who were looking at it through a haze of grief (and after it was shut away, through the lens of John Lennon's assassination), Jackson insists it has been unfairly maligned and deserves to be viewed again through fresh eyes.

The restored trailer arrived just ahead of the film's May debut, and the film certainly looks gorgeously rendered. Whether or not it will prove depressing or not remains to be seen.

Here is the film's synopsis:

Let it Be contains footage not in the epic Get Back docuseries, bringing viewers into the studio and onto Apple Corps’ London rooftop in January 1969 as The Beatles, joined by Billy Preston, write and record their Grammy-winning album, which came as they were tearing one another apart and toward the end of the band’s incredible career.

Let it Be was directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg and stars the late John Lennon and George Harrison, plus Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, with Preston making a special appearance. Neil Aspinall produced the film, and The Beatles were executive producers. Anthony B. Richmond directed the photography.

The film's re-release comes as The Beatles once again resurge, with a new track McCarthy had been trying to get "finished" released early in 2024. That was followed by the announcement that British director Sam Mendes is planning on making four interconnected feature-length biopics on the Fab Four, each told from a different band member's point of view, (currently under the working titles of John, Paul, George, and Ringo, natch). No talent is attached to the ambitious project as yet, but Sony has signed on to finance and film all four films, so here's to Mendes pulling off his vision. 

Let It Be arrives on Disney+ on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. Mendes' quartet of films are expected to film in 2025 and 2026, with an eye on a 2027 theatrical release for all four.