- Sony’s long-awaited Beatles films, currently being directed by Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Skyfall, 1917), have locked in their all-star lineup of actors.
- Taking a page out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s playbook, these four films will be shot back-to-back and released simultaneously to form “the first binge-able theatrical experience.”
- Sam Mendes’ The Beatles films release date: April 2028.
A little under a year on from the initial reports, Sam Mendes has officially unveiled the casting for his wildly ambitious quartet of Beatles biopics (one for each band member).
Announced by the Academy Award-winning director at CinemaCon 2025 – alongside the thespians in question who recited lyrics from ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ onstage before bowing – the confirmed leading men are as follows:
- Paul Mescal (Normal People, Aftersun, Gladiator II) as Paul McCartney
- Harris Dickinson (The King’s Man, Triangle of Sadness, The Iron Claw) as John Lennon
- Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things, Gladiator II, The Fantastic Four: First Steps) as George Harrison
- Barry Keoghan (Dunkirk, The Banshees of Inisherin, Saltburn) as Ringo Starr
75% true to the earlier forecasts with the key holdout being Charlie Rowe (Rocketman) as Harrison. It’s also interesting to note this is something of a reunion for Mescal, Quinn, and Keoghan; the latter having been originally cast in Gladiator II before scheduling conflicts forced him to exit.
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Attempting what is essentially the Avengers of music biopics – we’ve long maintained the entire genre is essentially comprised of MCU films for boomers anyways – this is a monumental undertaking for several reasons.
For one, it marks the very first time media giant Apple Corps Ltd and The Beatles/estate of John Lennon and George Harrison themselves have granted full life story and music rights for a scripted film – extremely necessary components if you want to “tell the story of the greatest band in history.”
“We need big cinematic events to get people out of the house,” Mendes told theatre owners on at Sony’s CinemaCon presentation.
“It’s a chance to understand them more deeply,”
“Theatrical movie events today must be culturally seismic. Sam’s daring, large-scale idea is that and then some,” Tom Rothman, Chairman & CEO of Sony Pictures’ Motion Picture Group, had previously stated.
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“Pairing his premiere filmmaking team, with the music and the stories of four young men who changed the world, will rock audiences all over the globe.”
As the maiden narrative features to be greenlit to use The Beatles’ iconic catalogue, you can expect to hear original recordings of ‘Here Comes The Sun,’ ‘Strawberry Fields,’ ‘Let It Be,’ ‘Come Together,’ ‘Twist & Shout,’ ‘I Am the Walrus,’ ‘Yellow Submarine,’ and plenty more. Not covers or any other clever workarounds.
For another, the plan is to shoot all four films concurrently in the UK a la The Lord of The Rings/Avengers: Infinity War & Endgame. Sam Mendes himself has revealed principal photography will be accomplished within a single year.
According to Variety, Rothman – who oversaw the production of James Cameron’s Avatar during his days at Fox – joked that he was already getting “flashbacks.”
Currently, Sam Mendes’ The Beatles biopics are slated for an April 2028 release date; Sony Pictures will finance and distribute the films worldwide. We’ll let you know if anything changes between now and then.
