There’s been a ton of documentaries about The Beatles. We just got Peter Jackson’s The Beatles: Get Back a couple years back, and Ron Howard’s The Beatles: Eight Days a Week before that. Biopics have been thinner on the ground, though, and tend to focus only on John Lennon—see Nowhere Boy, Chapter 27, et al.
In fact, you have to back over 20 years to find a non-documentary Beatles movie that doesn’t zero in on Lennon: either Two of Us and The Linda McCartney Story, both Tv movies released in 2000.
Well, we’re getting another John Lennon movie, folks. But we’re also getting Paul, George, and Ringo movies, as Sony has tapped acclaimed director Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Skyfall) to helm four Beatles flicks—one for each member. You’re going to have to wait a bit, though, as Sam Mendes’ Beatles movies are due out in 2027, with a precise release date yet to be confirmed.
Produced by Mendes, Pippa Harris, and Julie Pastor via their Neal Street Productions shingle, the project marks the first time Apple Corps Ltd, the surviving Beatles, and the estates of poor John and George have granted full music and life story rights to a narrative film. The ambitious aim is to create a kind of intersecting cinematic mosaic told from four points of view, which combine to form a complete and holistic view of The Beatles.
In the official press release, Mendes was quoted as saying: “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.”
As for casting? No idea. Screenwriters? No further info. Titles? No word as yet, but we’d lay money on them just going by first names. The big question is, given this is an authorised biopic (well, four biopics) how much whitewashing will there be? What rough edges will be sanded off? By this stage of the game we know how these things tend to go.
Still, 2027—mark your calendars, Beatlemaniacs. All else aside, it’s shaping up to be a hard day’s awards season.
