Rockol Tracks: New Beatles rockumentary buys a ticket to ride in Hollywood
It takes a certain amount of audacity to write about The Beatles, the most commercially successful rock band of all time, and the most famous. But Rockol.com was forced to become daring following some news from the movie industry on 16 July.
Plans to produce a feature rockumentary about the Fab Four were announced to the media. And while the actual release date and official title have yet to be finalized, we know the film focuses on The Beatles’ cherished touring years.
These kick off from the busiest period that included early UK gigs at the iconic Cavern Club in Liverpool, the stints in Hamburg, to the band’s last public appearance at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.
From 1961 to 1966, when they performed 166 concerts in 90 cities in 15 countries, the word “Beatlemania” became a household word; pop culture would never be the same.
Taking on the mammoth task of producing the new movie will be some of the heaviest hitters in Hollywood and rockumentary production.
Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, respectively the new film’s director and co-producer, own Imagine Entertainment, the production house behind Oscar-winning movies and box-office hits like "A Beautiful Mind", "Frost/Nixon", "Apollo 13" and "Rush". It is interesting to note that these titles are fictionalized films about real-life individuals and incidents.
Also on board is White Horse Pictures, the latest production vehicle for film entrepreneurs Nigel Sinclair and Guy East. They are the duo responsible for "The Woman in Black", starring Harry Potter’s Daniel Radcliffe; "The Ides of March" with Ryan Gosling and George Clooney; and "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines".
Additionally, Sinclair made award-winning rockumentaries that include "No Direction Home: Bob Dylan", "Foo Fighters: Back and Forth" and "George Harrison: Living in the Material World".
The news of the new Beatles film, which was developed by a team of producers called One Voice One World, also comes out this year, the 50th anniversary of "A Hard Day’s Night", the first rockumentary featuring the four rock men of the harmonic hits: John, Paul, Ringo, and George.
"A Hard Day’s Night" in 1964 was trailblazing. It offered one of the rare opportunities for fans in those days to see behind-the-scene close-ups of their favorite stars. Producing one in 2014 requires courage.
The quantity of legal and unauthorized content video about rock stars, old and new, on the Internet is virtually endless. And the track record of the rockumentary genre is mixed.
There have been the acclaimed classics. "Don’t Look Back", the 1967 film by DA Pennebaker, covered a pivotal period in Bob Dylan’s career as he shifted from acoustic folk to electric guitar. In 1970, "Gimme Shelter"’s coverage of The Rolling Stones’ open-air concert at the Altamont Speedway in the US, and the unfortunate fatal stabbing at the event, showed how a rockumentary can also be a riveting narrative.
Award-winning fictional movie makers have boosted their credentials with rockumentaries. Martin Scorsese with "The Last Waltz", which is about The Band’s final concert; Jonathan Demme came up with "Stop Making Sense", the quintessential film about Talking Heads, in 1984; and Michael Apted’s "Bring on the Night" centered on Sting.
Then, there have been the downright rubbish. "Truth or Dare (In Bed with Madonna)" revealed absolutely nothing about pop’s biggest female star’s musical prowess or lack thereof. And there was nothing to indicate that this was intentional.
In-between have been numerous others. These range from popular satires like "This Is Spinal Tap" and "Anvil! The Story of Anvil" to the insightful "The Filth and the Fury", which profiled the Sex Pistols; "Marley", about the reggae legend; "Metallica: Some Kind of Monster"; "Joy Division"; "Johnny Cash: The Man, His World, His Music"; and "Biggie & Tupac" (about Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur).
In addition to "A Hard Day’s Night", other Beatles-related rockumentaries include "The Beatles Anthology" by Geoff Wonfor in 1995, and Scorsese’s "Living in the Material World", about George Harrison.
So, Imagine Entertainment’s production of the next one on The Beatles has a lot to live up to. It promises to “explain what it was about that particular moment in time that allowed this cultural pivot point to occur,” says a statement from the producers.
The reason we can be confident they will fulfil that pledge is the validation of Apple Corps Limited. This is the company founded by The Beatles to ensure the commercial and creative legacy of their recordings stays true to who they are. The surviving members Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, plus the Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison (respectively the spouses of John Lennon and George Harrison) represent Apple Corps, which is co-producing with Imagine Entertainment and White Horse Pictures.
It is a cool endorsement because, Apple Corps is, if nothing else, meticulous about what happens to the brand called The Beatles. The company is so protective of The Beatles’ image, it successfully got computer-tech giant Apple Inc to pay $27 million and agree not to distribute original music under the tech corporation’s logo.
The late Steve Jobs, Apple Inc’s founder, could not hide his delight in 2010 when Apple Corps agreed for The Beatles’ repertoire to be available on Apple Inc’s iTunes online store. iTunes had to wait 10 years for the privilege. So when that agreement was reached, Jobs, one of the most stubborn entrepreneurs this side of Christendom, saw it as a personal victory.
The Beatles’ recordings, signed mostly to EMI Music (a Universal Music subsidiary) are still not available on Spotify, the world’s biggest streaming-music platform. Apple Corps is holding out until Spotify meets specific requirements.
So Imagine Entertainment and White Horse Pictures are joining an exclusive club of Beatles-content creators and distributors. They have a hard day’s work ahead of them.
[Juliana Koranteng]