Just like real beetles, The Beatles just don’t seem to die. There have recently been two new documentaries about the Fab Four, now there are four new movies on the way from Sam Mendes.
The casting directors have been saying, “Help! I need somebody. Help! Not just anybody.” Mendes has been looking for four actors that can play the Beatles in, not just one, but four new biopics, one for each member.
It seems that the filmmakers will shoot the biopics back-to-back, each with a different take on a band member’s experience. The movies have the blessing of Paul McCartney and Ringo Star, as well as the families of John Lennon and George Harrison.
Apple Corps, who own all of the Beatles’ back catalogue, have agreed to the full story and music rights.
The cast for The Beatles is Harris Dickson is playing John Lennon, Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Barry Keoghan as Ringo Star and Joseph Quinn playing George Harrison. Here is a photo of the group, but not in makeup or wigs.
Sony is producing the movies and plans to release them all at the same time. It’s not known if it will be the same day, but all around the same time. Creating “the first bingeable theatrical experience”. Mendes said in a recent interview:
“I’m honoured 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. 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.”
If he’s calling them “the greatest band in the world”, I guess he’s never heard of The Wurrzels.
The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event will be released in April 2018.