Ron Howard Brings Back Beatlemania

If it came from anyone but Ron Howard, it might be easy to dismiss the new Beatles documentary arriving Sept. 17 on the streaming service Hulu. You’d think that over the past half-century and in countless movies and books, every aspect of the Beatles had been covered eight ways to Sunday.

Last week, a trailer arrived for “The Beatles: Eight Days a Week — The Touring Years,” with title cards promising “the band you know” along with “the story you don’t,” including “rare and unseen footage.” And there’s clearly some contemporary interviews with the two surviving Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. That’s nice — but to a skeptic’s eye, it’s hard not to wonder whether there’s anything truly novel to be had.

This is the perfect time to introduce Beatlemania to a new generation — and revive it for those who appreciated it in the first place.

But then you remember we’re talking about Howard, the celebrated film director who took one of the most well-known events in NASA history — the Apollo 13 mission — and created a box-office smash that was also nominated for nine Academy Awards in 1996 (and won two). Everyone knew how the real-life story would end, yet he found a way to make it incredibly compelling and even suspenseful throughout.

And you also remember that critics wondered the same thing earlier this year when ESPN Films announced its documentary miniseries “O.J: Made in America,” which took a deep dive into the life of O.J. Simpson and the most publicized murder trial in history.

That four-part film, produced and directed by Ezra Edelman, faced the additional challenge of following soon after “The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story,” an FX miniseries that garnered huge ratings and widespread critical acclaim. (It went on to receive 22 nominations for the upcoming Emmy Awards.)

Yet the ESPN production also did well with viewers and was even better received by critics, as Edelman’s care and craft provided even more fascinating details and a broader, deeper context for the events than anyone had seen before. (It will be eligible for the 2017 Emmys.)

In other words, you might think you know everything about the Beatles already — but if recent history is any guide, you might be surprised.

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As its subtitle indicates, “Eight Days a Week” — which will also get a limited theatrical release — is focused on the Beatles’ main live performing years, essentially from 1963 to 1968. If that seems limited, it’s really not.

Those who only know the Beatles from the incredible breadth and depth of their music might be surprised to realize the band’s studio album recording history itself only spanned 1963 to 1970. And even that’s a bit exaggerated: While “Let It Be” was released in 1970, the core tracks were actually recorded before 1969’s “Abbey Road.” (Yes, it’s complicated.)

The movie’s release seems especially timely — or at least as timely as anything can be regarding a band that broke up 46 years ago. (And if you’re old enough to remember that, you’ve been enjoying your AARP privileges for at least a few years now.)

The Beatles are the best-selling group of all time, and their records considered to sell well throughout the ’70s. And the ’80s. And the ’90s, and ’00s, and the current decade — which is a truly astonishing concept.

Related: What George Martin Gave The Beatles

By its very nature, pop music isn’t supposed to be timeless. At least in theory, it should be somewhat disposable, relegated to only being especially successful during a particular window. But the greatest pop musicians destroy that rationale. The Beatles were so gifted and creative they utterly demolished it.

The Beatles didn’t need to make their music available for streaming. Technically speaking, they didn’t even have to go digital. When they did, joining iTunes in 2010, they sold 2 million songs their first week.

But selling digital music and allowing it to be streamed by a subscription service are two very different things. The Beatles’ main catalog landed on streaming sites for the first time only fairly recently — just before Christmas of last year — and the importance of that can’t be overstated.

Outside of a niche vinyl revival among hardcore young music fans, the vast majority of today’s listeners 25 and under listen to digital music almost exclusively. And most of that digital listening is on streaming services such as Spotify, Tidal, and Apple Music.

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Strange as this must seem for older generations (including Generation X), recorded music that isn’t easily available on popular platforms is essentially nonexistent to these younger listeners. To them, cassettes and even CDs are relics of olden times, lost to the lightning-fast pace of changing technology in the 21st century. In effect, streaming the Beatles’ music has opened it up to an entirely new audience.

That makes this the perfect time to introduce Beatlemania to a new generation — and revive it for those who appreciated it in the first place. It’s being produced in concert with the band’s label, Apple Records, and with the full participation of McCartney, Starr, and the widows of John Lennon (Yoko Ono) and George Harrison (Olivia Harrison).

So yes, a cynic could also view “Eight Days a Week” as a feature-length infomercial for the Beatles’ music and its ancillary interests. But most (if not all) authorized music documentaries could easily be lumped into the same category.

Related: 10 Bizarre Beatles Covers

And it’s hard not to feel we’re in good hands with Howard, who was 16 when the Beatles broke up, and whose acting breakthrough a few years later on the sitcom “Happy Days” evinced an appreciation for rock ‘n’ roll and nostalgia.

As it happens, the Beatles made their long-simmering breakup official on April 10, 1970, when McCartney announced he was leaving the band. The Apollo 13 mission launched the very next day. Sure, it’s pure coincidence, but if you need one more indication that Howard was fated to be the man for this job — there you have it.