The Beatles: Eight Days a Week
The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years is a 2016 documentary film directed by Ron Howard about the Beatles' career during their touring years from 1962 to 1966, from their performances at the Cavern Club in Liverpool to their final concert in San Francisco in 1966.
This article is about the documentary film. For the song by the Beatles, see Eight Days a Week.The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years
Mark Monroe
- Brian Grazer
- Ron Howard
- Scott Pascucci
- Nigel Sinclair
- Apple Corps
- Imagine Entertainment
- White Horse Pictures
- StudioCanal (UK)
- PolyGram Entertainment (UK)
- Abramorama (U.S.)
- Hulu (U.S.)
- 15 September 2016 (UK, U.S.)
97 minutes[1]
- United Kingdom
- United States
English
$5 million[2]
$12.3 million[1]
The film was released theatrically on 15 September 2016 in the United Kingdom and the United States, and started streaming on Hulu on 17 September 2016. It received several awards and nominations, including for Best Documentary at the 70th British Academy Film Awards and the Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special at the 69th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards.
Album[edit]
An expanded, remixed and remastered version of the 1977 album The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl was released on 9 September 2016, to coincide with the release of the film.[17][18]
Lawsuit[edit]
On 12 September 2016, Apple Corps. and Subafilms Ltd. were sued by representatives of Sid Bernstein, the concert promoter of the 1965 Shea Stadium concert, over the ownership of the master recordings from the event. While the copyright of the songs was not contested, the footage itself was claimed to be owned by Sid Bernstein Presents, LLC, the company representing Bernstein's interests, who himself died in 2013. The suit requested an injunction against the release of the footage in the film, asserting Bernstein's ownership "[by] reason of being the producer of and having made creative contributions to the 1965 Shea Stadium performance, as well as being the employer for hire of the Beatles and the opening acts, who performed at his insistence and expense".[19] The company had previously submitted applications to the Copyright Office to register ownership of the footage, which were rejected.[19]
Paul Licalsi, a lawyer for Apple Corps., described the lawsuit as "frivolous", citing an agreement that Bernstein had with the band's management over the film rights, as well as the fact that Bernstein himself had never made any claim during his lifetime.[20]