The Beatles biopics: Cast, director, release date and songs for the FOUR upcoming movies

2 January 2025, 15:20

Welcome to the launch of the Beatles Cinematic Universe.

As you'd expect for arguably the biggest (and best?) band in the history of music, The Beatles have popped up plenty of times on the big (and small) screen over the years.

When it comes to documentaries, there was controversial Let It Be and its effective re-imagining with Peter Jackson's three-part Get Back, as well as Ron Howard's The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years and the eight-part Anthology series in 1995.

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When it comes to dramas, during the band's own lifetime they played fictional versions of themselves in the classic A Hard Day's Night in 1964, their barmy colour excursion Help! the following year, Magical Mystery Tour and – with impressionists doing the Fab Four's voices – the animated Yellow Submarine.

Since then, there have been various portrayals of the Fab Four on screen. The early years and the life and times of Stuart Sutcliffe were covered in Backbeat, while John Lennon's early years were covered in Sam Taylor-Wood's 2009 film Nowhere Boy.

And then there was the Beatles film without The Beatles – Danny Boyle and Richard Curtis's high-concept Yesterday. But with the wave of high-profile feature biopics (Bohemian Rhapsody, Rocketman, Elvis, and the upcoming Michael) it feels like a proper Beatles biopic was surely inevitable. Well, it turns out we're actually getting four. Here's everything you need to know.

Wait, did you say there would be FOUR Beatles biopics?

Yep! Too big for just one movie, it's been decided that there will be four separate Beatles films: one for each of the Fab Four of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

All four movies will be shot simultaneously, and will cross over with one another.

"The four theatrical feature films – one from each band member’s point-of-view – will intersect to tell the astonishing story of the greatest band in history," is how it was explained in the first announcement.

"The dating cadence of the films, the details of which will be shared closer to release, will be innovative and groundbreaking."

Think of it as the launch of the Beatles Cinematic Universe.

Producer Pippa Harris said: "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."

What is the release date of the four Beatles movies?

The Beatles – Anthology ABC TV trailer

The films are being shot in 2025 with a planned release date of 2027. All four films will be in cinemas in the same year, though we don't yet know if the release will be simultaneous or staggered over the year.

"You have to match the boldness of the idea with a bold release strategy," Sony Pictures chief Tom Rothman told The Hollywood Reporter soon after the project was announced.

"There hasn’t been an enterprise like this before, and you can’t think about it in traditional releasing terms."

Later comments from Sam Mendes suggest things could be pushed a little later.

"I’ve got this huge Beatles project that I’m working on for the next several years," he told Variety.

"So this is the last time you’ll see me until some time in the middle of 2028."

Still, Mendes could well be referring to promotional activities for the films, so we can't completely rule out that original 2027 timeline.

Who is directing the four Beatles movies?

All four Beatles films will be directed by Sam Mendes.

After making his name in theatre, Mendes won Best Director at the Oscars for his 1999 film debut American Beauty, and he's only directed eight films since – including the back-to-back James Bond double header of Skyfall and Spectre.

"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," Mendes said.

Who will play the Fab Four in the four Beatles movies?

Given the promise that the four films will "intersect" and with their planned concurrent shooting, we're assuming that we're getting the same John, Paul, George and Ringos across the four films.

But as for who they'll be, we've not had any OFFICIAL word just yet, though in early June 2024, The InSneider claimed that it had the scoop on who is in the frame for the Fab Four.

However, while subsequent reports seemed to back up the report when it came to John, Paul and Ringo, a later Deadline article suggested that it would be Joseph Quinn and not Charlie Rowe as George Harrison, while stating that no deals had actually been signed.

So the current rumoured casting is:

• Harris Dickinson as John Lennon
• Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney
• Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr
• Joseph Quinn as George Harrison

Ringo Starr himself seemed to confirm news of Saltburn star Barry Keoghan playing him in the film.

"I think it's great,” Starr told ET when asked about the casting

"I believe he's somewhere taking drum lessons, and I hope not too many."

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And on the promotional trail for Gladiator 2, Ridley Scott appeared to rubber stamp the Paul Mescal casting.

Asked if Mescal would be appearing in his own The Dog Stars, Scott said

"Yes, Maybe. Paul is actually stacked up, doing The Beatles next. So I may have to let him go."

Quizzed on his own supposed casting as John Lennon, Dickinson told Varety: "It would be amazing to do that.

"I think the idea of Sam teaming up to do something like that would be incredibly exciting.

"Obviously, John Lennon is a very complex role, a pretty formidable force to try to do. It would be cool.”

Sony has yet to confirm these reports, and when the project was first announced, the internet was awash with wishlists, and these are the names being mentioned for each of the Fab Four, who could still be considered.

John Lennon: Sam Claflin, George Mackay, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Paul Danon, Kit Connor, Josh O'Connor

Paul McCartney: Jacob Elordi, Jamie Bell, Tom Holland, Jack Lowden

George Harrison: Timothée Chalamet, Asa Butterfield, Dhani Harrison, Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, Charlie Rowe

Ringo Starr: Daniel Radcliffe, Craig Roberts, Anthony Boyle, Isaac Hempstead Wright

Will the four Beatles movies actually include The Beatles' music?

The Beatles – Revolver Special Edition boxset trailer

The surviving Beatles and their estates are more protective of the back catalogue than probably any other major artist.

But with this being a fully official project, we can assume that all four films will be packed with The Beatles' music.

"The project marks the first time Apple Corps Ltd. and The Beatles – Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and the families of John Lennon and George Harrison – have granted full life story and music rights for a scripted film," is what we're told.

As for whether the cast will lip-sync to those classic original recordings or sing and play themselves, we're yet to be told.