Back in the spring of 2025, the long-running rumors were finally confirmed: four different films about the rise of The Beatles are officially on their way. The Beatles—A Four-Film Cinematic Event will be directed by Oscar winner Sam Mendes, and star four of the most in-demand young British and Irish actors working today as its central quartet: none other than Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Saltburn’s Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr, Babygirl’s Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, and Gladiator II’s Joseph Quinn as George Harrison.
Now, more images from the movie set have come to light, showing Paul Mescal as a young Paul McCartney biking through the streets of Liverpool (no need for a ticket to ride, then!). Cycling along on an era-appropriate bicycle, Mescal wears a thick, dark wig and a guitar case on his back.
Early reports also placed production in London, where scenes actually set in New York City at the height of Beatlemania in the mid-’60s were being filmed.
Mendes confirmed the news of the film project on March 31, 2025, at CinemaCon, showing up towards the end of the Sony Pictures presentation to reveal further details. The logline for all four projects reads: “Each man has his own story, but together they are legendary.”
To that end, these will be four interconnected biopics, one from each band member’s point of view. The exact order in which the films will be released is not yet known, though all four will hit the big screen in April 2028, in what the director describes as the first “bingseable moment in cinema.” (Think of it as Barbenheimer, times two.)
Doing the writing honors will be three veterans—Tony winner Jez Butterworth; recent Oscar recipient for Conclave, Peter Straughan; and Adolescence’s double Emmy winner Jack Thorne—but it’s unclear which film each is taking on.
Calling The Beatles “the most significant band of all time,” one that “redefined the culture and stayed with you for a lifetime,” Mendes added that he had “been trying to do a film for years, but I finally gave up” because he felt the “story was too big for one film” and a TV series didn’t seem quite right. “There had to be a way to tell the epic story for a new generation,” he continued. “I can assure you there is still plenty left to explore and I think we found a way to do that.”
The four boys will be joined by four-time Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan, as photographer Linda Eastman, Paul’s first wife; BAFTA winner and How to Have Sex breakout Mia McKenna-Bruce as Maureen Cox, Ringo’s first wife; Shōgun’s Emmy, SAG, and Golden Globe-winning Anna Sawai as artist Yoko Ono; and The White Lotus’s Aimee Lou Wood as model Pattie Boyd, who went on to marry George.
BAFTA nominee James Norton will be accompanying them as The Beatles’s long-time manager, Brian Epstein; Industry’s Harry Lawtey as Stuart Sutcliffe, The Beatles’s original bass guitarist; Bollywood mainstay Farhan Akhtar as Indian sitar maestro Ravi Shankar, a major influence on George Harrison; Lucy Boynton as Jane Asher, McCartney’s fiancée before Linda; and Morfydd Clark as John’s first wife, Cynthia Lennon. Keep your eyes peeled for more news. Keep your eyes peeled for more news.
