First released in 1970, Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s original documentary covering the final chapter in The Beatles story, and titled Let It Be, is set to be restored and released via Disney+ on 8 May, 2024.

The film has been restored and enhanced by Peter Jackson, the multiple Academy Award-winning director of the Lord of the Rings movies.

The film arrives three years after the Emmy Award winning docuseries The Beatles: Get Back, which was piloted by Peter Jackson – uncovering new revelations about the band and showing one of the most pivotal moments in music history.

Let It Be takes viewers into the studio in January 1969, when The Beatles and Billy Preston wrote and recorded their iconic final album. The film has been restored from the original 16mm negative, which includes a remastering of the sound, using the same technology that was applied to the Get Back docuseries.

At Last…

See The Beatles in the 1970 film, Let It Be, fully restored for the first time, streaming 8 May only on @disneyplusuk. pic.twitter.com/eqSTYh4NUJ

— Disney+ UK (@DisneyPlusUK) April 16, 2024

According to director Michael Lindsay-Hogg, the film was originally meant for release in late 1969, but was delayed as a result of the band's break up.

"It didn’t come out until April 1970," he said. "One month before its release, The Beatles officially broke up. And so the people went to see Let It Be with sadness in their hearts, thinking, ‘I’ll never see The Beatles together again. I will never have that joy again,’ and it very much darkened the perception of the film.

"But in fact, how often do you get to see artists of this stature working together to make what they hear in their heads into songs?" he added.

The film ends with a live performance on the roof of the Apple Records building in London – itself an iconic rock 'n' roll moment that others have referred or paid tribute to – including U2, who recorded the video for 'Where The Streets Have No Name' on a downtown rooftop in LA, during a set that included eight songs (though this included four versions of 'Where The Streets Have No Name').

“Then you get to the roof," Lindsay-Hogg says of Let It Be, "and you see their excitement, camaraderie, and sheer joy in playing together again as a group and know, as we do now, that it was the final time, and we view it with the full understanding of who they were and still are and a little poignancy. I was knocked out by what Peter was able to do with Get Back, using all the footage I’d shot 50 years previously.”

The enhanced version of Let It Be promises to be equally exciting.