Peter Jackson On Directing Beatles' 'Now And Then' Video: 'Sheer Terror At The Thought Of Letting Everyone Down'

Renowned director Peter Jackson is making his directorial debut in the music video world with the Beatles' final song, "Now and Then."

According to The Guardian, the video will include previously unseen footage of the iconic band, showcasing a few seconds of the Beatles performing in their leather suits, in the earliest known film of the Beatles.

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"Now and Then" features performances from all four Beatles, with George Harrison's 1995 guitar parts and John Lennon's late-70s demo vocals.

To isolate Lennon's vocals, Jackson's team used AI-assisted software, a technique previously employed during the making of "Get Back" to dissect various parts of the recording process for the Beatles' last albums, "Let It Be" and "Abbey Road."

"To be honest, just thinking about the responsibility of having to make a music video worthy of the last song The Beatles will ever release produced a collection of anxieties almost too overwhelming to deal with," Jackson said. "My lifelong love of The Beatles collided into a wall of sheer terror at the thought of letting everyone down."

However, the filmmaker eventually found inspiration in the music, and the video was completed with input from a variety of sources, including 1995 footage and unseen home movies provided by Sean Lennon and Olivia Harrison, as well as performance footage from the Beatles' original drummer, Pete Best.

The video also incorporates humor and candid moments from the Beatles, creating a balance between the serious and light-hearted. Beatles fans have eagerly awaited "Now and Then" for years, as it was thought to be an unfinished relic of Harrison's 1995 recording sessions.

"I’m very happy I’m not waiting for the release of somebody else’s Now And Then music video. I have genuine pride in what we made, and I’ll cherish that for years to come," Jackson said in a statement.

"Now and Then" will premiere alongside the song on Nov. 2 as a double A-side single with "Love Me Do," the Beatles' first single, and the cover art for the release was created by pop artist Ed Ruscha.

Additionally, a making-of film titled "Now and Then – The Last Beatles Song" will be broadcast on BBC One and YouTube on Nov. 1.

The song will also be part of a reissue of the Beatles' compilation album "1967-1970 (The Blue Album)" on Nov. 10, with "1962-1966 (The Red Album)" receiving a reissue as well.

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Image credits: Imma Gambardella on Shutterstock.