Beatles biopics to inlcude four films focused on each band member’s own story
MThe project has the blessing of surviving members and families of the deceased
usic biopics about the Beatles are coming – with a film for each member. Serial Oscar winner Sam Mendes will direct four interconnected films about the Fab Four. Each will be from the perspective of a different member, Deadline reports.
The project, set to reach cinemas in 2027, has the blessing of Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Ringo Starr, as well as the family of the two deceased members, John Lennon and George Harrison.
“This project springs from an idea of Sam’s which he had over a year ago, and it’s a testament to his creative brilliance and powers of persuasion that Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Sean Lennon [John’s son] and Olivia Harrison [George’s widow] responded with such warmth and enthusiasm as soon as he spoke with them,” producer Pippa Harris told Deadline. “We intend this to be a uniquely thrilling and epic cinematic experience: four films, told from four different perspectives, which tell a single story about the most celebrated band of all time.
“To have the Beatles’ and Apple Corps’ [the band’s company] blessing to do this is an immense privilege.”
The film follows the growing number of music biopics of late, including ones about Bob Marley, Elvis Presley and Leonard Bernstein.
While there is no word yet on who will play the individual Beatles, nor who will write the films (though Deadline reports that writers are expected to be in place quickly), this project will feature some of the most sought-after roles in the coming months. This is far from the first series of films about the Beatles. McCartney, Lennon, Harrison and Starr themselves appeared in 1964’s box office hit A Hard Day’s Night, which spawned a legion of imitators, from The Monkees TV series in the ’60s to Spice World in the ’90s.
There are also several films about Lennon, including 2009’s Nowhere Boy, in which he was played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and 2010’s Lennon Naked, starring Christopher Eccleston.