Okay, I’ll tell you. According to Ars Technica …
Peter Jackson’s next six-hour epic is finally coming out this year—and in a first for the acclaimed director, the film will launch directly to a streaming service. It will also be broken up into episodes.
The Beatles: Get Back, an expansive documentary originally announced for a theatrical run this August, has had its release strategy tweaked. On Thursday, Jackson and Disney confirmed that the entire project will launch exclusively on Disney+ during this year’s American Thanksgiving holiday. Each third of the documentary will launch on the streaming service on November 25, 26, and 27. As of press time, Disney hasn’t said how the film will reach audiences outside of Disney+’s supported territories. Neither Jackson nor Disney clarified how the original theatrical run might have worked or whether the global pandemic forced anyone’s hand.
I don’t know if I can take six hours of late-period Happy Beatles, an idea that does not compute (“Fight, damnit, fight!”). But of course, I’m all bark and will dutifully watch every minute. Unless there’s an outrageous “premier access” fee.
It was smart of them to go with streaming as opposed to only a theater release. A large mumber of Beatles fans would now require adult diapers to sit through a six-hour movie.
I would think that Happy Beatles = Paul not making them play “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” for the 800th time. If so, I’m impressed they could find a full six hours of them not playing it.
Oh, we’ll get plenty of snarky comments and what-have-you, I just think Peter Jackson wanted to present a more accurate, balanced account of that period than we got with the other film.
At 56 hours of total footage, I’m fully expecting to see Twink, some Yé-yé girls, Peter Sellers, and at least a second-tier guru make their way into Abbey Road.
I won’t last six hours, is what I will tell myself at the beginning of American Thanksgiving, and then will also proceed to watch it in its entirety.