Magical Mystery Tour in October

The Beatles' 1967 film Magical Mystery Tour has been restored for Worldwide DVD and Blu-ray release on 8 October 2012 (9 October in North America). In September 1967, The Beatles loaded a film crew onto a bus along with friends, family and cast and headed west on the A30 out of London to make their third film, this time conceived and directed by The Beatles themselves.

Apple Films have fully restored the long out-of-print feature film for DVD and Blu-ray with a remixed soundtrack (5.1 and stereo) and special features. The restoration has been overseen by Paul Rutan Jr. of Eque Inc., the same company that handled the much acclaimed restoration of Yellow Submarine. The soundtrack work was done at Abbey Road Studios by Giles Martin and Sam Okell.

A special, boxed deluxe edition will also be available, and, for the first time ever, there will be a limited theatrical release from September 27th.

Extras on all versions include:

• Director’s Commentary – by Paul McCartney
• The Making of Magical Mystery Tour (19m 05s) - Features interviews with Paul and Ringo, along with other cast members and crew. Includes unseen footage.
• Ringo the actor (2m 30s) - Ringo reflecting on his role in the film.
• Meet The Supporting Cast (11m 27s) - A feature on the background and careers of Nat Jackley, Jessie Robins, Ivor Cutler, The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, Victor Spinetti, George Claydon, and Derek Royle.
• Three new edits of these performances all featuring footage not seen in the original film.
  • ‘Your Mother Should Know’ (2m 35s)
  • ‘Blue Jay Way’ (3m 53s)
  • ‘The Fool On The Hill’ (3m 05s)
• ‘Hello Goodbye’ (3m 24s), as featured in Top of the Pops 1967 - The Beatles allowed the BBC to film them in the edit suite where they were working on Magical Mystery Tour. This was then turned into a promo by the BBC, who shot their own additional footage. It was then broadcast on Top of the Pops to mark the ‘Hello Goodbye’ single going to No 1 in December 1967.
• Nat's Dream (2m 50s) - A scene directed by John featuring Nat Jackley and not included in the original film.
• Ivor Cutler – ‘I’m Going In A Field’ (2m 35s) - Ivor performs ‘I'm Going In A Field’, in a field. This scene was not included in the original film.
• Traffic – ‘Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush’ (1m 53s) - The filming of Traffic acting out their 1967 hit single ‘Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush’ was commissioned by The Beatles for possible inclusion in Magical Mystery Tour but was not used in the final edit.

Tech Specs:

• Aspect ratio - 1.33:1
• Frame rate - 1080i 59.94
• DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Dolby Digital 5.1
• PCM stereo for Blu-Ray
• Dolby Digital for DVD

The Limited Edition Deluxe Version of the film comes in a 10" x 10" box, which contains the DVD & Blu-ray, as well as a 60 page book with background information, photographs and documentation from the production and also a faithful reproduction of the mono double 7" vinyl EP of the films six new Beatles songs, originally issued in the UK to complement the film's 1967 release.

The official store is taking orders now: USA | UK | Japan

Theatrical screenings will take place in selected cinemas from 27th September in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia, Italy, Japan, and other countries worldwide. Once confirmed, full listings will be available at www.thebeatles.com.

Already confirmed for the UK is a special screening at the BFI Southbank on 2 October - Book your tickets here.

Trailer and artwork below...

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