What can a musician do subsequent after being in, arguably, the best band of all time? Academy Award-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville‘s 2026 documentary, Man on the Run, seeks to reply simply that. With never-before-seen footage of Paul McCartney, his household, and his second band, Wings, Neville shares McCartney’s difficult journey from Beatles frontman to soloist to chief of a brand new group.
Set between about 1968 and 1980, McCartney begins on his remoted Scottish farm together with his spouse, Linda, and rising household, wrestling with what to do together with his newfound freedom. The Beatles had known as it quits — it was John Lennon’s concept, says McCartney — however the world didn’t realize it but.
Over the course of its runtime, Man On The Run exhibits McCartney as he makes his approach again to headlining arenas throughout America and all of the bumps alongside the best way to get there. Unflinching, the documentary doesn’t draw back from addressing the critics’ panning of a lot of McCartney’s solo work, the homicide of John Lennon, his temporary stint in a Japanese jail and his daring option to sue the Beatles.
Key figures like Stella and Mary McCartney, Mick Jagger, Denny Laine, Laurence Juber, Chrissie Hynde, Joe English, in addition to Paul himself shared tales for the documentary. Linda, who handed away in 1998, additionally shared a number of tales through archival footage, voice-over, and photographs.
The documentary, which is obtainable now on Amazon Prime, was screened on the Academy Museum in Los Angeles on Monday (September 28), and the presentation was adopted by a Q+A with McCartney and Neville, hosted by filmmaker Judd Apatow. A condensed and edited model of that dialog will be discovered under.
Apatow: So, Paul, when somebody says, “Let’s do a Wings [documentary],” do you assume, “Nice, I actually need to dig into that interval of my life,” or, “Oh, God”?
McCartney: No, I like that interval. Nicely, you already know, now it’s a fond reminiscence. What do you do after the Beatles? The Beatles break up. That’s been your solely job you’ve ever had, and then you definately don’t have it anymore. It’s such as you acquired sacked. And in order that was Wings, you already know—making an attempt to determine it out. And as you may see within the movie, we did properly. It was type of madcap, you already know. However, yeah, no, I like that interval.
Oh, after which on high of [leaving the Beatles], there was this enterprise man, Allen Klein, who was mainly stealing from the Beatles, and I used to be the one one who thought that. The opposite guys thought, “We love him.”
Apatow: Why had been they so dumb? Actually, as a result of I feel the enterprise folks knew he was a type of shady character.
McCartney: I’ll let you know why. Since you’d be at a gathering with him, and also you’d go, “What would you like? The New York man, what would you like? What would you like? One million {dollars}?” “Yeah.” “Okay, you bought it.”
He simply promised the earth and didn’t ship it. However in the meantime, I might see that this was a criminal. It was me in opposition to the opposite guys, and that was the worst factor. You already know, I imply, I’d come up in opposition to the fellows making music, nevertheless it was okay since you might say, “Nicely, I do know I actually assume that is proper,” and so forth. And I did both agree or they wouldn’t, and I’d go together with their model, you already know. But it surely was comparatively simply solved. This was all of the sudden every little thing we’d ever earned—every little thing we’d ever, all the cash we’d ever earned—was going to enter this man’s checking account, and I simply actually needed to battle it.
Apatow: And it’s your finest buddies, so that you’re suing your finest buddies
Nicely, that was it. I stated, “Okay, I’ll sue Allen Klein. I’ll get him.” My attorneys had been Linda’s dad and brother, and so I stated, “Yeah, let’s go. We’ll get this man.” They stated, “You may’t, as a result of he’s not a celebration to any of the agreements. The one people who find themselves events to those agreements are the Beatles.” They stated, “So that you’ll need to sue them.” I stated, “Nicely, I can’t.” This went on for months. I stated, “I can’t do it, you already know. It’s identical to the world will go in opposition to me, primary, and I’ll go in opposition to me, and it’s not a terrific concept.” So ultimately, that was the one approach. I needed to do it.
Tons of individuals do superb issues once they’re actually younger, after which for the remainder of their lives they by no means get near it. Was it a terror for you?
Yeah, I feel simply being alone was very scary as a result of I’d at all times had the union of the group, however then I had to determine how I might do it and make it completely different. That was the trick, as a result of I assumed, “Nicely, I might simply write some extra type of Beatles-y songs, and we might imitate it. We’d be like a Beatles cowl band.”
Whenever you look again, Ram is taken into account a traditional. Lots of people assume it was even the start of a sure type of indie rock and residential recording. However when folks attacked you for it on the time, was that devastating that folks didn’t know methods to take pleasure in it for what it was?
Yeah, I feel so. I assumed we’d acquired one thing particular, and the critics didn’t. Critics criticize, and so they criticized me. So, with all these hopes—with the younger household and this document—I assumed, “This can be a good document.” The worst bit is, I purchased into it. I listened to the critics and thought, “Possibly they’re proper. I don’t know.” For years, I assumed it wasn’t an excellent album. Then one in every of my nephews got here as much as me someday and stated, “You already know, my favourite album of yours is Ram.” I went, “What?” And I all of the sudden preferred it once more.
Why do you assume that interval irritated John Lennon? Was it the joyfulness of it, whereas he was doing Primal Scream and also you had been having enjoyable? What do you assume acquired underneath his pores and skin about it?
It’s simply a kind of issues. I imply, I liked John and love him to at the present time and at all times will. It wouldn’t matter, because it didn’t matter, what he stated or did, as a result of I’d recognized him since I used to be 15, and so he was this mad man I knew, and I actually appeared as much as him.
Whenever you’re 13 and a half or one thing—and, after I was just a little older, I used to be 15, and he’d be 16 and a half—there’s that type of man who’s merciless and witty and proper on. You look as much as them and say, “Wow, he’s actually cool.” I at all times thought John was very cool, and I nonetheless do. However he may very well be a whole fool over some issues. He was a stunning man. And the factor is, in the event you have a look at his life, there’s motive for him to be loopy. Plenty of dangerous issues occurred to him.
At what second did you get up and say, “I need to begin one other band”?
We had been watching Johnny Money on TV, and he’d put collectively a band with Carl Perkins and a few nation guys that we actually preferred. I simply thought, “Wow, Johnny’s simply put collectively a band. What a terrific concept!” I turned to Linda and stated, “Do you need to? Ought to we begin a band? Do you need to be in it?”
I knew she had no musical schooling, however then I assumed, “Nicely, neither did we within the Beatles. We didn’t know something.” However we realized a few chords, and we realized collectively. That was the good factor: We climbed the steps collectively. She acquired quite a lot of flak for that, and I acquired quite a lot of flak for that. “Oh, Mick Jagger, what’s she doing with this outdated girl within the band?” Fuck off. What’s it acquired to do with him?
You guys had such a tremendous mix as singers—the 2 of you and Denny Laine. Did you perceive that there was a type of magic to that sound?
I take heed to it now and assume, “Wow.” Linda’s voice particularly is basically good. It provides a really fascinating taste. You’ve acquired to recollect, there have been no Auto-Tune methods, so she needed to simply sing it proper. Listening again to it, I feel it’s excellent. It was a terrific mix.
Finally, we did what the Beatles did: We acquired higher. We caught at it and acquired actually good ultimately. We might come to America, promote out the dominion or no matter it was, and placed on an excellent present ultimately. But it surely took quite a lot of work.
