Apple Corps and WingNut films have announced that a new film based around The Beatles' recording sessions for their Grammy Award-winning album, Let it Be will be directed by Academy Award-winning director Sir Peter Jackson.

The focus of the film will be 55-hours of never before released footage, which was shot between January 2nd and January 31st 1969, just months before John Lennon would inform his bandmates he would be leaving.

The filming, which was originally intended for a TV special, climaxed The Beatles' performance on the roof of Apple's Savile Row London Office - which occurred 50 years ago today.

Despite having their concerts filmed extensively and appearing in a multitude of interviews during the '60s, this is the only footage to have documented The Beatles' creative work in the studio.

Jackson, well known for his work on the Lord of The Rings trilogy and his latest WW1 documentary They Shall Not Grow Old, said the film will provide "the ultimate 'fly on the wall' experience that Beatles' fans have long dreamt about."

"It's like a time machine transports us back to 1969 and we get to sit in the studio watching these four friends make music together."

“I was relieved to discover the reality is very different to the myth,” Jackson said, referring to the context of the Let it Be album, often viewed in light of the band's subsequent break-up.

“After reviewing all the footage and audio that Michael Lindsay-Hogg shot 18 months before they broke up, it’s simply an amazing historical treasure-trove. Sure, there’s moments of drama - but none of the discord this project has long been associated with. Watching John, Paul, George, and Ringo work together, creating now-classic songs from scratch, is not only fascinating - it’s funny, uplifting and surprisingly intimate”.

"I’m thrilled and honored to have been entrusted with this remarkable footage - making the movie will be a sheer joy.”

This film is being made with the full co-operation of Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono Lennon, and Olivia Harrison, with a release date to be revealed in due course.