{"id":73256,"date":"2025-10-12T05:11:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-12T05:11:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/73256\/"},"modified":"2025-10-12T05:11:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-12T05:11:19","slug":"everything-we-know-about-the-beatles-biopics-so-far","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/73256\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything we know about The Beatles biopics so far"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a new Fab Four in town<\/a>: Harris, Paul, Joseph and Barry. With the core cast of Sam Mendes\u2019s forthcoming quartet of Beatles biopics<\/a> confirmed, a whole new slew of questions come into focus. Such as when did John Lennon<\/a> get so tall? How did Paul McCartney<\/a> get so buff? Is George Harrison<\/a> really going to be portrayed as a soulful skinhead?<\/p>\n

From casting details to when the film will be released, here\u2019s everything you need to know about the four films.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Fab Four: Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr, and Joseph Quinn as George Harrison – PA<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s in the cast?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just the Fab Four themselves \u2013 who will be played by Paul Mescal (Paul McCartney), Harris Dickinson (John Lennon), Barry Keoghan (Ringo Starr) and Joseph Quinn (George Harrison) \u2013 who will have key roles in the film.<\/p>\n

\"Paul<\/p>\n

Paul McCartney, Paul Mescal, Linda McCartney and Saoirse Ronan<\/p>\n

Rumours of which actresses will play the band members\u2019 love interests have also emerged. Deadline reports that Irish actress Saoirse Ronan will be the Linda to Mescal\u2019s Paul; their close personal friendship, and the fact they\u2019ve worked together before (on the 2023 thriller Foe<\/a>) suggests their chemistry should be off the charts. The other rumoured actresses in the line-up include White Lotus star Aimee Lou Wood<\/a> (as Pattie Harrison, n\u00e9e Boyd), Anna Sawai (Yoko Ono) and Mia McKenna-Bruce (Maureen Starkey).<\/p>\n

\"George<\/p>\n

George Harrison, Joseph Quinn, Pattie Boyd and Aimee Lou Wood<\/p>\n

Wood\u2019s juicy role as Pattie Harrison will involve a love triangle with Eric Clapton. Ronan\u2019s role opposite Mescal (a Carlow woman opposite a Kildare man playing the ultimate 1960s Anglo-American power couple) is arguably a departure for her, with her filmography tending towards the worthy and Oscar-adjacent rather than the purely popcorn. Her biggest musical moment to date was starring in the video for Ed Sheeran\u2019s earworm Galway Girl \u2013 so the only way is up.<\/p>\n

\"John<\/p>\n

John Lennon, Harris Dickinson, Yoko Ono and Anna Sawai<\/p>\n

The key role of Yoko Ono \u2013 artist, muse and, according to a certain corner of The Beatles fandom, destroyer of the band \u2013 is believed to be headed to New Zealand-Japanese actor Anna Sawai \u2013 though she dismissed the reports earlier this year as \u201cjust a rumour\u201d. Her most acclaimed part was in the Disney+<\/a> remake of James Clavell\u2019s Sh&omacr;gun<\/a>, which won her an Emmy award.<\/p>\n

Then there is Maureen Starkey, the Liverpool hairdresser who was thrust into the spotlight as the first wife of Ringo Starr. She is reportedly to be portrayed by Mia McKenna-Bruce, breakout star of the acclaimed coming-of-age hit How To Have Sex and Chris Chibnall\u2019s upcoming Agatha Christie adaptation, The Seven Dials Mystery<\/a>, where she will feature opposite Helena Bonham Carter and Martin Freeman. Going by a recent TikTok post, her favourite band begins with a \u201cB\u201d \u2013 though it is punk-poppers Blink182 rather than the exalted Beatles.<\/p>\n

\"Ringo<\/p>\n

Ringo Starr, Barry Keoghan, Maureen Starkey and Mia McKenna-Bruce<\/p>\n

Given The Beatles\u2019 status at the white-hot centre of 1960s pop culture in swinging London, expect cameos for actors playing Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithfull, Keith Richards and every other British pop icon of the era, with potential walk-on roles for the late Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret. There is not much scope for diversity casting but look out for cameos for actors playing the Maharishi, Billy Preston and perhaps Jimi Hendrix.<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s directing?<\/p>\n

All four films will be directed by Sam Mendes. Having overseen a brace of Bonds<\/a> (the excellent Skyfall and the rather more forgettable Spectre) he will know a few things about the careful handling of treasured cultural heirlooms.<\/p>\n

Weirdly, he doesn\u2019t seem to be the biggest Beatles fan in history \u2013 asked to name his five favourite tunes of all time by a US radio station, he listed tracks by Bob Dylan, The Only Ones, Van Morrison, Rufus Wainwright and Lloyd Coyle and the Commotions. But who knows \u2013 maybe the lack of reverence will be a plus, allowing him to cast a steely eye over the rise and fall of the band.<\/p>\n

\"All<\/p>\n

All four films will be directed by Sam Mendes – Terence Patrick\/CBS Photo Archive\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t worry \u2013 it isn\u2019t as if he actively dislikes the group. \u201cThe Beatles changed my understanding of music,\u201d he said earlier this year. \u201cI\u2019ve been trying to make a movie about them for years.\u201d He continued: \u201cThere had to be a way to tell the epic story for a new generation. I can assure you there is still plenty left to explore and I think we found a way to do that\u201d.<\/p>\n

Who is writing the scripts?<\/p>\n

Forget a Fab Four. For his Beatles project, Mendes has assembled the power-trio of Jez Butterworth, Peter Straughan, and Jack Thorne \u2013 though the films are shrouded in secrecy (people believe that each scriptwriter could be assigned one film and one person). Playwright Butterworth is perhaps the most acclaimed of the triumvirate, with his 2009 play Jerusalem f\u00eated as one of the greatest British stage accomplishments of the 21st century. But he did go on to oversee the appalling Celts vs Romans Sky caper Britannia, so he\u2019s a long way from perfect.<\/p>\n

Controversially \u2013 at least where The Beatles are concerned \u2013 Butterworth\u2019s favourite band is their long-time nemeses The Rolling Stones. \u201cThe album I played more than any other album in my life \u2013 and I have lived my entire life to music \u2013 would be Exile,\u201d he said, referring to the Stones\u2019 1972 masterpiece, Exile on Main Street.<\/p>\n

Straughan recently bagged the Academy Award for best adapted screenplay for his papal thriller Conclave. On the small screen, he worked on the BBC\u2019s version of Hilary Mantell\u2019s Henry VIII trilogy, and so will know a lot about big egos jousting for prominence.<\/p>\n

Then there is Thorne, who achieved overnight acclaim as the writer of Netflix\u2019s toxic masculinity drama Adolescence<\/a> and is the guiding force behind the recent ITV<\/a> phone-hacking drama, The Hack. Growing up as a teenager in the 1990s, it is perhaps unsurprising that Thorne hasn\u2019t spoken much about his love of The Beatles. Appearing on Desert Island Discs in 2021, he didn\u2019t give Macca and the gang a look-in, and instead waxed lyrical about Pulp\u2019s Common People and John Williams\u2019s E.T. theme.<\/p>\n

When will the films be released?<\/p>\n

\u201cAll four will come out in April 2028,\u201d according to Mendes, who dubbed the \u00a3400m project the most \u201cbingeable moment in cinema\u201d. If he is true to his promise, it truly could be something to twist and shout about.<\/p>\n

What era will the films be set in?<\/p>\n

We know that Mendes plans to make four intersecting biopics<\/a>, focusing on each of The Beatles in turn. What would be astounding is if each film was made in a different style tailored to its subject: arty cin\u00e9ma v\u00e9rit\u00e9 for Lennon, sumptuous historical biopic for McCartney, mystic surrealism for Harrison and a kid\u2019s cartoon for Starr. But let\u2019s face it, we are talking about former theatre director and James Bond film-maker Mendes here, not some acolyte of David Lynch.<\/p>\n

The ages of the cast members might imply a drama of the last days of The Beatles. Both Dickinson and Mescal are 29, close to the ages Lennon and McCartney were during the recording of Abbey Road in 1969, their final sessions together (although Let It Be was released in 1970, after the split). It represented a last coming together, a moment when this once seamless unit were able to put aside rising personal tensions to create a final masterpiece.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Beatles in 1967 after the release of Sgt. Pepper\u2019s Lonely Hearts Club Band – Jeff Hochberg\/Getty<\/p>\n

It is an album with a glorious conclusion as the still-fabulous four harmonise on The End and could conceivably provide a sentimental setting for a tale that doesn\u2019t otherwise have a particularly happy ending. But there are just too many historic moments in The Beatles\u2019 decade-long odyssey for Mendes to restrict himself to one album. Besides, he has four films to make (potentially eight hours or more of viewing).<\/p>\n

Although Peter Jackson\u2019s epic Disney+ documentary series, Get Back, demonstrated a still voracious appetite to consume hours of Beatles footage, I\u2019m not sure there is a mass blockbuster cinema audience ready to settle down to a drama set in an airless studio recording 21 takes of McCartney\u2019s music hall pastiche Maxwell\u2019s Silver Hammer, a song the rest of The Beatles hated.<\/p>\n

It is more likely that the films will follow a fairly standard biopic narrative covering the years from 1960 (when The Beatles first went to Hamburg), perhaps in a tale set at the end of the Sixties peppered with flashbacks. Though I\u2019m not convinced the finest special effects could de-age Dickinson and Mescal to the first fateful meeting at St Peter\u2019s Church in Woolton, Liverpool on July 6, 1957, when John was 16 and Paul was 15.<\/p>\n

Potentially, each of the four characters could lead us through consecutive stages of The Beatles journey, but this too seems unlikely since screenwriter Peter Straughan suggested the film quartet would involve \u201ccertain famous scenes from their lives\u201d told from different points of view, citing Akira Kurosawa\u2019s 1950 unreliable narrator masterpiece Rashomon\u2019s approach to refracting incidents through each character\u2019s perspectives.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Beatles performing at Shea Stadium, New York, in 1965 – AP<\/p>\n

Any Beatles story surely has to cover the explosive Liverpool Cavern concerts and first encounter with manager Brian Epstein<\/a> (1961), the early recording sessions and explosion of Beatlemania (1962-64), the final American stadium tour with Lennon under threat of assassination (1966), the psychedelic happenings of Sgt Pepper and All You Need Is Love (1967), the Maharishi madness and death of Epstein (1967-68) and the arrival of Yoko Ono presaging the bitter breakup (1969-1970). We could potentially have a Marvel-style crossover with Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet\u2019s Bob Dylan introducing The Beatles to marijuana in 1964.<\/p>\n

Will the actors do their own singing and playing?<\/p>\n

The answer to that has to be yeah, yeah, yeah. When Ringo let it slip last year that Barry Keoghan had been cast, he said \u201cI believe he\u2019s somewhere taking drum lessons\u201d then jokingly added (in a reference to his own individualistic and untrained style) \u201cI hope not too many\u201d.<\/p>\n

Recent biopics of Amy Winehouse (Back to Black<\/a>) and Dylan (A Complete Unknown<\/a>) have made a great big song and dance about their stars\u2019 musical prowess. Surely some confluence of vocal register must have been part of the casting process, whilst countless Beatles tribute bands demonstrate that even the most extraordinary musicianship is relatively easy to imitate (rather than innovate). As long as you have a similar vocal range and can hold a tune, you can learn to impersonate another singer, with Lennon\u2019s nasality being a highly distinctive feature.<\/p>\n

\"John<\/p>\n

John Lennon and Paul McCartney in Greece, 1967 – Getty<\/p>\n

McCartney would present a challenge for almost any vocalist though. In his prime, he commanded one of the widest ranges ever heard in popular music, spanning five octaves and all of it carrying weight and tone. Luckily, we know Mescal can sing \u2013 one of his other future projects includes a role in Richard Linklater\u2019s film musical Merrily We Roll Along.<\/p>\n

Are the surviving Beatles involved?<\/p>\n

Sort of. The movies have the approval of The Beatles\u2019 Apple Corps, meaning that Mendes has full access to their musical catalogue. However, it is unlikely that surviving band members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr will be directly involved. McCartney is rumoured to be planning a new album for 2026 with an accompanying tour. Starr has been on the road in 2025.<\/p>\n

What is the source material?<\/p>\n

You could probably fill the Albert Hall with writings on the subjects of The Beatles. There must have been thousands of books, hundreds of thousands of magazine articles, hundreds of films and documentaries and potentially millions of related articles and interviews about the band at the epicentre of one of the most thoroughly documented cultural moments in modern history.<\/p>\n

The Beatles Bible website offers a day-to-day account of their activities from birth to the present. There are intricate tomes citing every minute detail of every recording session. Beatles expert Mark Lewisohn\u2019s immense 1,782 page, 780,000 word masterpiece Tune In only covers the story up to the year 1962, with plans for two more heavyweight volumes to tackle the rest. Which makes Mendes\u2019s potential eight-hour screen time seem positively succinct.<\/p>\n

How honest will it be?<\/p>\n

Anyone expecting a searing no-holds-barred account of The Beatles\u2019 rise and disintegration is bound to be disappointed. Mendes is a strong storyteller who won\u2019t shy from interpersonal conflict, but as an officially endorsed biopic there is no chance it will do anything that might damage The Beatles brand. Particularly given that the most fiercely honest Beatle is not around to influence proceedings. In later interviews, Lennon frequently compared life in The Beatles to Frederico Fellini\u2019s transgressive orgiastic Roman epic Satyricon.<\/p>\n

\"John<\/p>\n

John Lennon and Yoko Ono in New York, 1980 – Getty<\/p>\n

\u201cI was an emperor. I had millions of chicks, drinks, drugs, power and everybody saying how great I was,\u201d he asserted, whilst describing how unhappy this had ultimately made him. \u201cJust think of Satyricon with four musicians going through it.\u201d<\/p>\n

I doubt Mendes will be using Fellini as a filmic role model. The films will surely have to hint at the sex, drugs and rock and roll behind the scenes to avoid accusations of sanitisation, but it is safe to assume the underlying message will ally itself with Ringo\u2019s frequent assertion that the story of The Beatles is all about \u201cfour guys that loved each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s a new Fab Four in town: Harris, Paul, Joseph and Barry. With the core cast of Sam…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":73257,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[26621,54883,156,57607,57605,55037,57610,29645,57606,55093,157,111,139,69,57608,466,467,57609,43482,468,8645],"class_list":{"0":"post-73256","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-aimee-lou-wood","9":"tag-barry-keoghan","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-fab-four","12":"tag-george-harrison","13":"tag-harris-dickinson","14":"tag-jez-butterworth","15":"tag-john-lennon","16":"tag-joseph-quinn","17":"tag-lennon-and-mccartney","18":"tag-music","19":"tag-new-zealand","20":"tag-newzealand","21":"tag-nz","22":"tag-pattie-harrison","23":"tag-paul-mccartney","24":"tag-paul-mescal","25":"tag-peter-straughan","26":"tag-ringo-starr","27":"tag-sam-mendes","28":"tag-saoirse-ronan"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}