How did this movie get made?

At the time the movie was green-lighted, Frampton and the BeeGees were the biggest stars in the world and Robert Stigwood's RSO the biggest label.

The 10th anniversary of "Sgt. Pepper" was a very big deal and there were plenty of rumors and speculation the Beatles would appear in this movies, probably in heavily disguised cameos. Having George Martin as producer/musical director was supposed to be a big incentive for this to happen (which of course ignored the fact that Paul McCartney was the only member of the band to be really close to Martin).

Wisely they decided that if they were going to reunite, it would have to be for something better than this.

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I recall some things about this film that were stated in Frampton's "Biography" episode. He and the Gibbs were told that Paul was going to do a cameo at the end of the film. (Possibly in the part that actually went to Billy Preston). So they were duped into thinking that at least Paul sanctioned the film and would be involved in it. It was a flat out lie, of course, but they'd signed the contract and had to do the damned film anyway. The script was all but non-existent and much was improvised. Both Frampton and the Gibbs knew they were involved in a cinematic train wreck, but had no choice but to endure it. Believe me, they all regretted it and hate the film as much as most Beatles fans do.
There are some not too bad places in it, IMHO. Barry's "A Day In The Life" is pretty good, as well as Aerosmith's "Come Together", of course. The rest is mediocre to downright awful. I was never able to forgive Earth Wind And Fire for what they did to "Got To Get You Into My Life". And Robin's "Oh,Darlin'" was just grotesque. The Beatles' original was an early forerunner to the modern power ballad. Robin's version was too sickly sweet. The Bee Gee's "Sgt Pepper" was okay, but Peter's "With A Little Help" was awful. "Polythene Pam" wasn't too bad, either.

Most skeptics are terrified it's all real and are desperate to prove otherwise. The harder they argue, the more afraid they are.

I actually saw this on the big screen...TWICE! Have seen it many times on cable over the years.

There was major RSO promotion when this was made. I even remember they even made a whole magazine with the usual behind the scenes, background information, etc.

I even once had the vinyl album, believe it or not.

Hey, I wanted to thank everyone who responded to my post on this. I've learned a lot from all of you! Shows there is an intelligent community of film lovers on IMDB, so just ignore the occasional trolls.

Again, thanks.

I tend to agree with jaystarstar, in that Frampton and the BeeGees were megastars when this was made. Also Robert Stigwood was coming off a huge success with Saturday Night Fever. So why not have the BeeGees & Frampton team up with a bunch of Hollywood Stars and other musicians to do the Beatles?! Seems like a natural right? WRONG!!!

I still contend that this was the WORST movie I have ever seen in my life, and I saw it in the theater with my mom and my aunt. Afterwards my mom said to me, "Don't ever take me to see anything as stupid and pointless as that again!"

The only thing I can honestly say that I liked about this film was Aerosmith's performance. Please keep in mind I have never seen this movie again since that day in the theater.

Will someone please release the Batman TV Series on DVD.

Long story short - Robert Stigwood had money and wanted to make a Beatles movie. That, and he wanted to exploit the Bee Gees, who were his biggest act. (This blatant exploitation eventually led to the Bee Gees suing him.)

It went farther than people wanting their names removed; the Bee Gees demanded to be released from the movie mid-shooting when they realized how bad it was going to be. Stigwood refused.

>I also was astounded by how much serious talent (not Frampton or the Bee Gees) was in this film>

Screw you buddy. The Bee Gees were the best band in this sorry movie - which they didn't even want to do. So who do you think was 'talented', that Rolling Stones knock off band, Aerosmith? Pathetic, like I expect from people like you. You're obviously trolling anyway as this is your only post.