Ringo Starr Helped Rewrite Scenes for the Beatles Biopics: I ‘Would Never Do That'
While Starr did not cite which out of the assumed four scripts he reviewed, Jez Butterworth ('Ford v Ferrari'), Peter Straughan ('Conclave') and Jack Thorne ('Adolescence') are all announced as writing the screenplays.
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Starr said he gave 'extensive notes' to director Mendes while fact-checking the scripts. The scenes in particular that depicted Starr's family and his first wife, Maureen Starkey Tigrett (whose casting has not yet been announced), were among the sequences that Starr urged to have reworked.
'He [Mendes] had a writer — very good writer, great reputation, and he wrote it great, but it had nothing to do with Maureen and I,' Starr said. 'That's not how we were. I'd say, 'We would never do that.''
Starr added, 'But he'll do what he's doing, and I'll send him peace and love.'
Barry Keoghan will portray Starr in the project, which is being referred to as 'The Beatles — A Four Film Cinematic Event.' Harris Dickinson will portray John Lennon, with Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney and Joseph Quinn as George Harrison.
Starr was married Tigrett from 1965 to 1975. The couple had three children, former Oasis/Who drummer Zak Starkey, plus Jason and Lee. Starr later married actress and model Barbara Bach in 1981.
Starr previously told Entertainment Tonight that he approves of Keoghan's casting. 'I believe he's somewhere taking drum lessons, and I hope not too many,' he joked.
Mendes will direct all four biopics, each of which will center on one band member's POV during their astronomical rise to fame. Per an official announcement, the films will 'intersect' with each other and 'tell the astonishing story of the greatest band in history.' The first installment is set to be in theaters in 2027 from Sony Pictures.
'I'm honored to be telling the story of the greatest rock band of all time, and excited to challenge the notion of what constitutes a trip to the movies,' Mendes said in a press statement.
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