Paul Mescal, Barry Keoghan, Harris Dickinson, and Joseph Quinn announced as the Beatles in ‘4-film cinematic event’
Beatlemania is back, baby.
Sam Mendes finally spilled the beans on his much-hyped Beatles project at CinemaCon on Monday, taking to the stage at the Sony presentation to drop a neutron bomb of casting news.
Paul Mescal, Barry Keoghan, Harris Dickinson, and Joseph Quinn will star as Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, and George Harrison, respectively. Not in one conventional biopic but four of them, all releasing in April 2028.
Bettmann/ Corbis
The Beatles with Ed Sullivan in 1964
The Skyfall and American Beauty director said that the “four-film cinematic event” will be told from each band member’s perspective. “Together, all four films will tell the story of the greatest band in history,” he said. Sony CEO Tom Rothman dubbed the venture “the first bingeable theatrical experience.”
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The unusual approach to cinematic hagiography acknowledges the “four very different human beings” at the center of rock’s greatest group, Mendes explained. He also revealed that principal photography will take “over a year” to shoot all four films. Then, he introduced the Beatles.
Mescal, Keoghan, Dickinson, and Quinn walked on stage to uproarious applause, and each tried out their best Liverpool accents in thanking fans for their enthusiasm. “It’s wonderful to be here,” Mescal shared, while Keoghan called the CinemaCon crowd “such a lovely audience,” and Dickinson said they’d “like to take you home with us,” quoting from “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”
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George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr (circa 1965)
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Donning classically chic Beatles black, the foursome channeled the band in their bow and walked off stage to the aforementioned 1967 hit.
The Hollywood Reporter first broke the news of Mendes’ Beatles project actually being four Beatles projects back in February 2024. Mescal’s Gladiator II director Ridley Scott disclosed that Mescal was tied to the project in December, but it was unclear who might portray his bandmates until Monday.
Related: 15 rare photos of the Beatles, including one from the recording of ‘Hey Jude’
Though the Beatles have previously been given the movie treatment in projects like Nowhere Boy, Backbeat, and Birth of the Beatles, Mendes’ project will be the first biopic made with full life story and music rights from each of the members’ estates.
-With reporting from Lauren Huff
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