Scorsese to direct George Harrison documentary

Filmmaker Martin Scorsese plans to
direct an authorized documentary about George Harrison, the
former Beatle who died of lung cancer in 2001, Daily Variety
reported on Thursday.

Interviews and early production will begin this year, and
the film will take several years to complete, the trade paper
said.

“It would have given George great joy to know that Martin
Scorsese has agreed to tell his story,” the paper quoted
Harrison’s widow, Olivia, as saying.

She will serve as a producer of the untitled project, and
will supply archival materials. Daily Variety added that
surviving Beatle members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr would
participate, as would the Beatles’ Apple Records label.

Scorsese, who won an Oscar this year for directing the
crime saga “The Departed,” is preparing for the April 2008
release of a concert documentary about the Rolling Stones,
called “Shine A Light.” He turned his attention to Bob Dylan in
the 2005 documentary “No Direction Home,” and depicted the
Band’s farewell concert in 1976’s “The Last Waltz.”

The Harrison movie will cover his time in the Fab Four,
when he composed such memorable tunes as “Something” and “Here
Comes the Sun,” his inconsistent solo career, his foray into
movie production with such projects as “Monty Python’s Life of
Brian,” and his enthusiastic embrace of Eastern mysticism,
Daily Variety said.

“George Harrison’s music and his search for spiritual
meaning is a story that still resonates today and I’m looking
forward to delving deeper,” Scorsese was quoted as saying.

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