Austin Butler is Elvis. Naomie Ackie is Whitney Houston. Marisa Abela is Amy Winehouse. Timotheé Chalamet is Bob Dylan. Saoirse Ronan is Cher. Ok, I made that last one up, and the link goes to my favorite Cher song, but I hope I had you for a second!
Everywhere in Hollywood, it seems, there’s a marquee musical biopic being produced. While many of the most famous rock acts have been claimed in recent years (Rocketman, Bohemian Rhapsody), it seems inevitable that pop’s biggest act be enveloped by the cinematic IP excavator.
The Beatles are a tough subject to deftly portray on the silver screen. Aside from the fact that they are still so famous (#100 artist on Spotify at the time of this writing), their likenesses are just so damn ubiquitous. Aside from the ancillary films (the alternate history jukebox musical Yesterday was released in 2019), and the documentaries (Peter Jackson’s Get Back was the seventh-highest viewed original program in the week of its release), the Beatles themselves were among the most highly photographed and filmed people on the planet. A Hard Day’s Night is taught in editing classes, and the animation of Yellow Submarine is still influential.
We can pretend Rami Malek’s soul-bending stare is Freddie Mercury’s gregarious visage for a couple of hours, or that Taron Egerton’s sleek jawline resembles anything similar to that of Elton John (no offense, love.) Can we expect to sit through hours of actors playing John, Paul, George, and Ringo with any sense of seriousness?
I was 13 when Nowhere Boy was released in theaters. The British independent film strayed away from portraying the Beatles as adults, instead focusing on John Lennon’s (portrayed by a pre-Marvel Aaron-Taylor Johnson) troubled and formational teenage years. Still, as a die-hard Beatles fan (I was really popular in middle school), I had the sense that these were not the Beatles I was looking for. There are so many tangible images and recordings of these people at our fingertips. Why risk an embarrassment with a film?
Well, considering that the Beatles are one of the most valuable entertainment enterprises on the planet, the upside for a studio could be very profitable. That’s probably production company Sony’s gamble. Hopefully, Sony realizes that on top of very good casting, these movies will have to be extremely honest with John Lennon’s well-documented, self-proclaimed history of domestic violence, as well as manager Brian Epstein’s closeted queerness (which undoubtedly played a role in his overdose), and Yoko Ono’s undeniable impact on the group’s music. The movies will have to do this while also being Hollywood products, selling us a glossy fantasy about four lads from Liverpool who rose to superstardom…blah blah blah…
Sam Mendes is tapped to write and direct the films. The director of Skyfall and 1917, Mendes certainly has the skill to direct any single film about the Beatles. Yet Mendes is going a step further. Here’s all we know about the upcoming Beatles films below.
There will be 4 films
There will be 4 Beatles movies for each of the Fab Four, all will be released theatrically.
“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 shared in a statement.
Let’s hope that Ringo movie pulls out all the stops.
The first one is slated to shoot in 2025 for a release in 2027
We’re still a long, long way away from these films getting produced. I really hope that the first film released isn’t about Lennon. Again, if Sony thinks Gen Z are going to line up for a puff piece about Lennon, they’re about to have a crude awakening.
Scripts aren’t written
Per a Deadline article, Mendes and team are trying to lock down writers at the moment. This is particularly heartening. Screenwriters aren’t jurors sequestered in the middle of a court case, they’re often influenced by discourse around them. Perhaps the writers of the Beatles films will be able to hear out fans’ wishes.
Films will have access to the entire Beatles catalogue
This is the real treat. McCartney, Starr, and the estates of Lennon and Harrison have all agreed to participate in this project, meaning Mendes will be able to showcase all the songs. This is the biggest impediment to most musical biopics, the most infamous example being the Bowie film that came out a few years back. It’s a good thing that this won’t be an issue for the Beatles films.
Who could the cast be?
No one’s cast at the moment, but that’s not stopping the internet from guessing! The dream list includes…
John Lennon contenders:
- George MacKay
- Sam Claflin
- Paul Dano
- Kit Connor
Paul McCartney contenders:
- Tom Holland
- Jack Lowden
George Harrison contenders:
- Timotheé Chalamet
- Henry Ryeder (sorry, I had to)
- Jacob Fortune-lloyd
Ringo Starr contenders:
- Barry Keoghan (my favorite option, especially considering the possibilities of a Lennon gravesite scene)
- Craig Roberts
- Isaac Hempstead Wright
These are just a few of the internet’s fantasies for the cast of the Sam Mendes Beatles films. The nascent franchise’s greatest asset thus far is that it’s yet to materialize. We can daydream all we want about directions it can go, and it has yet to let us down. Still, I urge Mendes, the higher-ups at Sony, and screenwriters to be honest about the Beatles, not just portraying them as exceptionally gifted artists (which they were), but as deeply flawed products of their time. Portraying the Beatles in this honest light might be the only Beatles story yet to be told.
What do you think about the upcoming Beatles films? Are you excited or nervous? Leave a comment below!
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