The film will document how Beatlemania conquered American culture in 1964
A new Beatles documentary titled 1964 is coming to Apple TV+ this year to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the band conquering the United States.
In February 1964, the Fab Four made their first trip to the US, with over 70 million people watching their debut performance on The Ed Sullivan Show. They led what came to be known as the British Invasion, with Beatlemania taking over the country for the rest of the year.
That phenomenon is set to be commemorated in a new film that will reportedly document their rapid rise in American culture, including new interviews and archival footage of the band’s shows.
The Sun reports that 1964 will be released onto Apple TV+ on Thanksgiving (November 28).
The news comes after the announcement earlier this month that a new boxset comprised of the US versions of the band’s albums in 1964 and 1965 would also be coming out on November 22 via Apple Corps Ltd., Capitol and UMe. The 180-gram audiophile vinyl have been made from the original mono master tapes and you can pre-order yours here.
1964 also arrives ahead of the upcoming four Beatles biopic projects that will be helmed by Sam Mendes, one from the perspective of each band member. Those films, which have a scheduled global release date in 2027, will mark the first time that the band have granted full life story and music rights for a scripted film.
Reports have emerged since the films’ announcement that the four roles have now been cast, with Paul Mescal reportedly set to play Paul McCartney, Harris Dickinson to play John Lennon, Barry Keoghan to portray Ringo Starr and Charlie Rowe to take on George Harrison. These cast appointments have not been confirmed by the films’ producers.
The Beatles were also the subject of the recently restored version of the 1970 documentary Let It Be, which received a stamp of approval from Starr. NME gave that re-release a five-star review, writing: “What Let It Be has gained through the decades, though, is historical weight. The sight of The Beatles playing and rehearsing together, freely and candidly, will never lose its window-on-history magic. Meanwhile, tracks that might have felt new – even a bit throwaway – in 1970 have become stone cold classics.”
