Academy Award-winning director Ron Howard has signed on to direct and produce a new documentary about The Beatles and their early years touring between 1961 and 1966.
The film will follow the group’s rise to fame from its small performances at the Cavern Club in Liverpool in 1961, their club concerts in Hamburg and other European countries in 1963, and their final show in San Francisco’s Candlestick Park in 1966.
“What’s so compelling to me is the perspective that we have now, the chance to really understand the impact that they had on the world,” Howard says. “That six-year period is such a dramatic transformation in terms of global culture and these remarkable four individuals, who were both geniuses and also entirely relatable. That duality is something that is going to be very interesting to explore.”
Apple Corps Ltd., White Horse Pictures and Howard’s Imagine Entertainment will produce the documentary, with the help of surviving members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison.
Besides Howard, producers are White Horse’s Nigel Sinclair, Scott Pascucci and Brian Grazer. Imagine’s Michael Rosenberg and White Horse’s Guy East will executive produce along with Jeff Jones and Jonathan Clyde for Apple Corps, which represents the interests of The Beatles.
“I am excited and honored to be working with Apple and the White Horse team on this astounding story of these four young men who stormed the world in 1964,” Howard said. “Their impact on popular culture and the human experience cannot be exaggerated.”
According to Howard and Sinclair, the untitled film, filled with concert footage and soundboard recordings, is expected to be finished and in theaters by the end of next year.
