Paul McCartney Wonders ‘How Can I Ever Do Anything That’s Anywhere As Good As the Beatles?’ in ‘Man on the Run’ Trailer

It was perhaps the most daunting second act in pop culture history. After the Beatles‘ break-up in April 1970, the then-27-year-old Paul McCartney was suddenly faced with the question of what he would do for the rest of his career following the meltdown of the greatest pop group in history.

As evidenced by the tireless touring and recording he’s done in the half-century since, McCartney needn’t have worried about what came next. But in the new trailer for the biopic Paul McCartney: Man on the Run, which chronicles Macca’s rebirth following the Beatles, the two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Famer describes that worrisome time and his determination to punch through the fear.

“The Beatles had broken up and I was thinking, ‘what do I do now?,” McCartney says over the strains of the Paul McCartney and Wings‘ 1974 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Band on the Run.” In voiceover, he continues, “‘How can I ever do anything that’s anywhere near as good as the Beatles?'”

The answers will be revealed in the film directed by Oscar-winner Morgan Neville (20 Feet From Stardom, Won’t You Be My Neighbor), which follows McCartney’s rebirth after the band’s messy dissolution. The movie will be released into theaters for one-night-only by Trafalgar Releasing on Feb. 19, with tickets on sale now here. Each screening will also include a bonus conversation between McCartney and Neville.

In addition to McCartney weighing in on the his rise from the Fab Four’s ashes, the film includes rare, unreleased archival footage and music, as well as photos from the singer’s late wife and bandmate Linda McCartney, as well as interviews with Linda, Paul and their daughters Mary and Stella, Wings band members, Sean Ono Lennon, Mick Jagger, Pretenders singer Chrissie Hynde and others.

“I was on my own for the first time,” McCartney says in the minute-long trailer. “I had to look inside myself, so I put a new band together.”

Along with the April 1974 chart topper that gives the movie its title, Wings also scored five other No. 1 singles on the Hot 100: “My Love,” “Listen to What the Man Said,” “Silly Love Songs,” “Let ‘Em In” and “With a Little Luck.” In Feb. 2024, the band’s official debut (after two McCartney solo albums) returned to the Billboard charts following the 50th anniversary re-issue of Band on the Run, when it hit No. 5 on the Top Album Sales chart and No. 156 on the Billboard 200 album chart; during its initial run the LP scored four nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 in 1974. The band landed five albums at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 before breaking up in 1981.

Check out the Paul McCartney: Man on the Run trailer below:

This article was first published by Billboard U.S.