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The director, Sam Mendes, is working on four biopics about The Beatles.
Mendes, who's known for Oscar-winning films including “American Beauty,” “Skyfall,” and “1917,” has partnered with Sony to work on the ambitious slate of movies about the iconic British band.
In a press release announcing the news, Sony Pictures CEO Tim Rothman said: “Sam’s daring, large-scale idea is that and then some.”
Here’s everything we know about the four movies about The Beatles.
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According to the press release, each movie will be from the perspective of a different member of the band, meaning Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr will each have their own biopic.
It’s the first time that the band’s company, Apple Corps Ltd., has given permission for the group’s life story and music to be used in a scripted film about them.
Since 1979, 18 unauthorized biopics have been made about the band including 2009’s “Knowhere Boy" starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Lennon and Thomas Brodie-Sangster as McCartney.
The release also says that the four movies “will intersect to tell the astonishing story of the greatest band in history.” Yes, Mendes is effectively giving audiences The Beatles Cinematic Universe, so get those “Avengers” jokes out of the way now.
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In an interview with Deadline in February, Pippa Harris, who will produce the films, said the band’s surviving members, McCartney and Starr, have given their blessing for Mendes to work on the four films.
“It’s a testament to his creative brilliance and powers of persuasion that Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Sean Lennon, and Olivia Harrison responded with such warmth and enthusiasm as soon as he spoke with them,” she said, referring to John Lennon's son and George Harrison's widow.
Harris went on to say that Mendes will have no restrictions on what he depicts from the band members’ lives.
She said: “What is truly exciting is for Sam to have the freedom to delve into the lives of each of the Beatles, with nothing off limits and no sense of the band wanting him to tell a particular ‘authorised’ version of their rise to success.”
Starr also gave his blessing on in February via a post on X.
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In November, ET Online asked Starr about rumors that "Saltburn" actor Barry Keoghan would play him.
He said: "I think it's great, I believe he's somewhere taking drum lessons, and I hope not too many."
Representatives for Keoghan did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
No actors have yet been cast as Lennon, McCartney, or Harrison.
Per the press release, Sony is looking to release all four movies about The Beatles in 2027, which gives Mendes plenty of time to find the right people to play the Liverpudlian superstars.
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Ridley Scott let slip that Paul Mescal has joined the cast of The Beatles movies during a conversation with Christopher Nolan after a screening of "Gladiator II" on Tuesday.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Nolan asked the director whether Mescal would appear in his next project, "The Dog Stars," but Scott said that the Irish actor has a busy schedule.
He said: "Maybe. Paul is actually stacked up, doing The Beatles next. So I may have to let him go."
There have been rumors that Mescal will play McCartney in the movies, and in November he told Entertainment Tonight that he'd love to join the project.
"It would be an incredible story to be attached to. The fact that Sam Mendes is attached to direct, like truly, it would be a dream come true," he said.
However, he refused to comment on the speculation that he'll play McCartney, adding: "No, no, no — we're not going there."
Mescal's representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.
Correction: March 1, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misstated the director of the film "No Time to Die." Cary Joji Fukunaga directed the film, not Sam Mendes.
