The Beatles Let It Be on Disney Plus: When it is released and how to watch

After being unavailable for more than 50 years, a restored version of The Beatles’ 1970 film, Let It Be, will soon be released on streaming platforms. Director Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s original documentary – which captures the recording sessions of the Let It Be album – has been restored by Peter Jackson’s team using the same technology used in the 2021 Beatles doc, Get Back.

After the success of the epic eight-hour documentary, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr are back in a candid new film first released 54 years ago. Let It Be was originally released in May 1970 amidst the band’s breakup and is now brought to light through its restoration and in the context of revelations seen in Jackson’s multi-Emmy-winning Get Back.

The film contains new footage that captures the recording sessions of the Let It Be album and The Fab Four’s impromptu final performance on Apple Corps’ London rooftop in January 1969. Following the release of Get Back and with Lindsay-Hogg’s full support, Apple Corps asked The Lord of the Rings director Jackson’s Park Road Post Production to dive into a meticulous restoration of the film from the original 16mm negative.

Jackson – who won an Emmy for his direction on Get Back – said the new film provides “a vital missing context” that completes “one epic story.” He said: “I was so lucky to have access to Michael’s outtakes for Get Back, and I’ve always thought Let It Be is needed to complete the Get Back story.

“I now think of it all as one epic story, finally completed after five decades. The two projects support and enhance each other: Let It Be is the climax of Get Back, while Get Back provides a vital missing context for Let It Be. Michael was unfailingly helpful and gracious while I made Get Back, and it’s only right that his original movie has the last word – looking and sounding far better than it did in 1970.”

The film shares its name with The Beatles’ 1970 album Let It Be. The 12-track LP – featuring songs such as I’ve Got a Feeling, The Long and Winding Road and Get Back – was the band’s twelfth and final studio album, released around a month after they finally called it a day.

The Beatles: Let It Be will premiere on Wednesday, May 8, the 54th anniversary of the Let It Be album, which was released on May 8 1970. The film comes three years after the launch of Disney and Peter Jackson’s previous Beatles doc, Get Back, on November 27, 2021.

The three-part series earned universal acclaim and was streamed for 503 million minutes over its first four days, The Wrap reported. It won five Emmy awards, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series and Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program for Peter Jackson.