Photo Credit: Courtesy of James Gilham and (LONDON) — The stars came out for the Blue Carpet Premiere of Ron Howard’s long awaited Beatles documentary, Eight Days a Week, on Thursday.
Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr were on hand for the event, and celebrities Madonna, Liam Gallagher of Oasis, Michael Palin of Monty Python, Michael Keaton, Yoko Ono, and George Harrison’s widow Olivia Harrison were all in attendance at Odeon Leicester Square. The entire affair was streamed live on Facebook.
Howard said he was inspired by the story of the band and the journey the group went on, “in this fascinating time that was Beatlemania.”
In researching the era, Howard said an eagle-eyed editor spotted a very famous face in a crowd of screaming teenagers at the Hollywood Bowl — actress Sigourney Weaver.
“I suddenly look at this and I think ‘this is Sigourney Weaver’,” he said.
Howard was delighted that the actress was open to talking about her experience for the movie.
“It was a remarkable find,” he said.
In an on camera interview, Starr admitted that neither he or McCartney had screened the movie yet.
“If you have any notes, it’s too late,” Howard quipped.
McCartney said that even though life became complicated for the band, in the beginning it was really quite simple.
“We started off as these four mates from Liverpool,” he said. “We kept playing and all this stuff happened.”
Today’s theatrical presentation of Howard’s movie also features a restored film of the Beatles’ 1965 Shea Stadium concert, remixed by George Martin’s son, Giles. Howard’s movie gets its television premiere September 17 on Hulu.
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