The new Disney+ documentary Beatles ’64, which captures the Fab Four’s first trip to the U.S., had its premiere in New York City on Nov. 24, and in attendance was one of the film’s subjects: Sir Paul McCartney.
In addition to Sir Paul, John Lennon‘s son Sean Ono Lennon and George Harrison‘s widow, Olivia Harrison, were in the theater for the premiere, along with E Street Band guitarist Little Steven Van Zandt, Elvis Costello and the film’s producer, Martin Scorsese.
The movie is built around the footage captured by late filmmakers Albert and David Maysles, who were with The Beatles constantly during their 14-day trip to America. During that time, they traveled to New York, performing on The Ed Sullivan Show and at Carnegie Hall; Washington D.C., where they did their first U.S. concert; and Miami. Seventeen minutes of footage is previously unseen. New interviews with Paul and Ringo Starr are included, plus archival interviews with Harrison and Lennon.
The musical performances in the film have all been restored and remixed using the same technology that was used on the Get Back documentary and on The Beatles’ Grammy-nominated single “Now and Then.” At several points during the premiere screening, the audience spontaneously burst into applause at the end of some of the performances.
Following the film, Scorsese and director David Tedeschi did a Q&A with actor/director Ethan Hawke.
Beatles ’64 will stream exclusively on Disney+ starting Nov. 29.
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