Okay, so maybe we do already have a biopic on The Beatles (namely, Richard Marquand’s Birth of the Beatles), and a great many other films about and involving the band, but not only is Sam Mendes’ upcoming project on a whole other level, but I also really wanted to make that “Yesterday” pun.
Jests aside, the 1917 mastermind has announced that he’ll be taking on the story of The Beatles in the form of four separate biopics: one for Paul, one for John, one for George, and one for Ringo, as reported by Deadline.
It’s a prospect that both mesmerizes and terrifies. The scope of such an endeavor speaks for itself, however fitting it is for individually and collectively honoring the Fab Four on the big screen. That said, it’s not the easiest thing in the world to stick the landing when it comes to biopics about famous musicians, and despite Mendes’ reliable hand, a quartet of interconnected biopics—each focused on a figure that blows right past famous and straight into music history royalty—makes the stakes that much more precarious.
Pippa Harris, co-founder of Neal Street Productions along with Mendes and English theatre producer Caro Newling, said of the project: “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. To have The Beatles’ and Apple Corps’ blessing to do this is an immense privilege.”
The four films, which are all targeting a 2027 release, will mark the first time that the life story and music rights of all four Beatles have been granted for a scripted film.
Good luck, Mendes; perhaps your project will be the catalyst that finally makes the Beatles more popular than Jesus.
(featured image: Chris Walter/Getty Images)
