Meet the Beatles: Harris Dickinson, Joseph Quinn, Paul Mescal and Barry Keoghan to star as the Fab Four in Sam Mendes-directed films

Yahoo

01-04-2025

The Beatles are heading to the big screen, with four biopics set to be released in April 2028, each told from the perspective of a different member.
Marketed as The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event, the films will be directed by Oscar winner Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Skyfall), who announced the release date Monday at CinemaCon in Las Vegas.He also revealed the confirmed cast: Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr and Joseph Quinn as George Harrison.
After the announcement, all four actors took the stage and bowed in unison.
'We're not just making one film about the Beatles — we're making four,' Mendes said during Sony's presentation, according to the Hollywood Reporter. 'Perhaps this is a chance to understand them a little more deeply.'
During the presentation, Sony Pictures chief Tom Rothman described the project as 'the first bingeable theatrical experience.' Mendes stressed the need for bold ideas to reinvigorate the box office: 'We need big cinematic events to get people out of the house,' he said.
The logline for the film reads: 'Each man has his own story, but together they are legendary.' The project reportedly marks the first time McCartney, Starr, and the families of Lennon and Harrison have fully endorsed a dramatized project, granting access to both their life stories and music rights.
As anticipation builds, here's what we know about the forthcoming Beatles biopics.
Each film will dive into the life of one member of the Beatles, weaving his personal journey into the band's rise and eventual breakup in 1970.
Originally conceived as a single film, Mendes pivoted to the multi-movie approach after realizing 'the story was too huge to fit into a single movie,' Variety reported. The director also stressed the importance of seeing each member of the band as an individual artist, which each film seeks to accomplish.
Before the official announcement on Monday, several actors were rumored to be attached to the project — including those who were cast.
Keoghan's involvement was the first to be publicly acknowledged. In Nov. 2024, Starr himself hinted at the casting, telling Entertainment Tonight, "I believe he's somewhere taking drum lessons, and I hope not too many."
The following month, director Ridley Scott inadvertently revealed Mescal's casting as McCartney. During a Directors Guild of America event, he told fellow director Christopher Nolan that Mescal was 'doing the Beatles next,' effectively confirming the news.
Dickinson played coy about playing Lennon, telling Variety in December, 'I think the idea of Sam [Mendes] teaming up to do something like that would be incredibly exciting. Obviously, John Lennon is a very complex role, a pretty formidable force to try to do. It would be cool.'
As for Harrison, before Quinn was officially cast, rumored contenders included Charlie Rowe.
The four films will hit theaters in April 2028. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the production team plans to start shooting the movies in the U.K. in mid-2025 to make the planned release, and it's expected that Sony Pictures will shoot all four films at the same time.
Principal photography on the four films will take at least a year, Mendes said at the CinemaCon presentation, but he wouldn't confirm which order they would roll out.
As of April 1, no screenwriter has been credited on IMDb for any of the projects, which so far have been listed as George, Untitled John Lennon Biopic, Untitled Paul McCartney Biopic and Untitled Ringo Starr Biopic.
It's also a mystery which Beatles songs will make the cut and whether the actors will sing or lip-sync the original recordings.