The Beatles are getting a bunch of biopics

1917 director Sam Mendes will direct four different movies from the perspectives of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr

By Mary Kate Carr  |  February 20, 2024 | 5:24pm
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The Beatles are getting a bunch of biopics
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The Beatles; Sam Mendes Photo: Keystone/Hulton Archive; Stuart C. Wilson

If there’s one thing we know that modern Beatles fans like, it’s sitting through several straight hours of mostly the same content. So those devoted acolytes who relished in Get Back will be thrilled to hear that Sam Mendes is making the fictionalized Beatles project to end all Beatles projects: one story, four movies, each told from the perspective of the band’s individual members, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. All four movies are slated to premiere in 2027, with a specific release strategy that Sony Pictures Entertainment promises to be “innovative and groundbreaking” (per Variety).

“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,” 1917 director Mendes said in a statement (via Variety). This big Beatlemania swing was apparently all Mendes’ idea. “We went out to L.A. just before Christmas to pitch the project, and it’s fair to say we were met with universal enthusiasm,” he told Deadline. “The reason Sony stood out from competing offers was down to [SPE Execs Tom Rothman and Elizabeth Gabler]’s passion for the idea, and commitment to propelling these films theatrically in an innovative and exciting way.”

Though there have been documentaries (Get Back, The Beatles: Eight Days A Week, to name some recent examples), there hasn’t yet been a definitive biopic of the legendary British rock band. Fictionalized versions of the group have appeared on screen, most notably in Sam Taylor-Johnson’s Nowhere Boy (a biopic of Lennon’s early years in Liverpool starring the director’s future husband, Aaron Taylor-Johnson). However, this is the first project to which Apple Corps Ltd. and The Beatles (McCartney, Starr, and the families of the late Lennon and Harrison) have granted full life and music rights.

Music biopics have always been popular, and have often come with a fair amount of prestige. Think What’s Love Got To Do With It starring Angela Bassett, Walk The Line starring Joaquin Phoenix, Ray starring Jamie Foxx, Elvis starring Austin Butler, and Bohemian Rhapsody starring Rami Malek, who won an Oscar for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury. Particularly in the wake of Malek’s Oscar, it seems like the push for rock flicks has increased, with the likes of Rocketman, I Wanna Dance With Somebody, Respect, One Love, and the upcoming Back To Black.

There’s one thing distributors seem to crave even more than a classic awards-bait biopic right now, though: event cinema. 2023 saw a theater-going revival with the “Barbenheimer’’ phenomenon and Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour movie, which each in their own way enticed fans to buy tickets with a promise of something beyond just seeing a movie. People dressed up, they attended in groups, they danced in the aisles, they wanted to be part of a communal experience that went beyond run-of-the-mill moviegoing. And in the case of Barbenheimer, that helped increase ticket sales for two movies.

Now, combine a classic rock biopic with one of the biggest, most beloved acts in music history and add in an innovative event cinema strategy from an award-winning director. It’s really no wonder Sony Pictures Entertainment got on board with this. From the casting to the soundtrack to the four-film-in-one-year release, this project is destined to be a regular presence in film discourse for the next three years. Congratulations, Beatlesheads!

 
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