Table of Contents
A Quadruple Feature
On February 20, 2024, Sony Pictures released the news that they were undertaking what may very well be revolutionary in the world of cinema in this, the Information Age.
Sir Sam Mendes CBE made his name in the theatre originally, with a signature darker aesthetic on beloved classic musicals with his 1993 revival of ‘Cabaret’, 1994 revival of ‘Oliver!’, and 2003 revival of ‘Gypsy’. It was the former two productions that first intrigued Steven Spielberg with Mendes, and why Spielberg- whose company DreamWorks had bought Alan Ball’s script for ‘American Beauty’– hired Sam Mendes to direct the film, winning Mendes the Best Directing Oscar for this, his film debut, springboarding a career of consistently brilliant films (‘Road to Perdition’, ‘1917’, and two James Bond films- ‘Skyfall’ and ‘Spectre’). It’s this kind of record that has apparently imbued Sony with the confidence to back this historic project.
The Sony press release reads as follows: “As conceived by Mendes, who will direct, 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.”
This left the public with questions. First of all, how these four films would technically “intersect.” And their curiosity was only exacerbated at CinemaCon 2025, when Sam Mendes joined Tom Rothman– Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures’ Motion Picture Group- to reveal the tetralogy would all be released in April 2028, making it what Mendes calls the “first bingeable theatrical experience.”
That night the two of them also revealed the cast.
What followed weren’t so many questions as opinions.
Things to do:
- Subscribe to The Hollywood Insider’s YouTube Channel, by clicking here.
- Limited Time Offer – FREE Subscription to The Hollywood Insider
- Click here to read more on The Hollywood Insider’s vision, values and mission statement here – Media has the responsibility to better our world – The Hollywood Insider fully focuses on substance and meaningful entertainment, against gossip and scandal, by combining entertainment, education, and philanthropy.
Cast and Writer Revealed
Paul Mescal will play Paul McCartney. The young actor has already cultivated quite the career, having bared his soul in ‘Aftersun’, hit the West End in A Streetcar Named Desire, and swung a sword in ’Gladiator II’.
Harris Dickinson will play John Lennon. An A24 regular, Dickinson has starred in ‘Triangle of Sadness’, ‘The Iron Claw’, and most recently ‘Babygirl’ alongside Nicole Kidman– who, in a full-circle moment, made her stage debut in Sam Mendes’s production of David Hare’s ‘The Blue Room’.
Joseph Quinn will play George Harrison. He’s been having a great year, headlining ‘Fantastic Four: First Steps’ as the Human Torch, and reuniting with ‘Gladiator II’ co-star Paul Mescal.
And rounding out the Fab Four: Barry Keoghan will be Ringo Starr. Having proved remarkably bankable and reliably unpredictable, Keoghan has built a reputation on scene-stealing turns in ‘Saltburn’ and ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’, already positioning himself as potentially one of the top actors of his generation.
The latest development in the project is the announcement of its screenwriters: Jez Butterworth, Peter Straughan, and Jack Thorne. It’s unclear, however, whether each will pen a separate film or collaborate across all four.
Butterworth, a frequent Mendes collaborator, is known for ‘Ford v Ferrari’, ‘Spectre’, and the Tony-winning play The Ferryman. His most recent stage work, The Hills of California, just earned seven Tony nominations.
Straughan recently won an Oscar for ‘Conclave’ and was previously Oscar-nominated for ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’. His other credits include ‘Frank’, ‘Our Brand Is Crisis’, and the BAFTA-winning adaptation of ‘Wolf Hall’.
Thorne, who created the hit Netflix series ‘Adolescence’, has written for both screen (‘The Swimmers’, ‘Enola Holmes’, ‘Wonder’) and stage (the Tony- and Olivier-winning Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and Mendes-directed The Motive and The Cue).
Together, these three writers bring a sharp mix of prestige, experience, and range- setting the stage for a quartet of films that could match the ambition of their subjects.
The big question isn’t whether the films will face criticism- they will- but whether the team can push through it to make the films they actually want to make.
WATCH THE TRAILER of the Film and the Revolution: ‘Can I Go Home Now?’
The Children Around the World Continue to Ask the question
Help! We Need a Biopic
At the CinemaCon announcement, director Sam Mendes remarked, “I can assure you there is still plenty left to explore, and I think we found a way to do that.”
Mendes was referring, of course, to the seemingly endless stream of Beatles analyses. In her 2016 book The Beatles and the Historians, Erin Torkelson Weber noted that over 3,000 books had already been written about the band. Add to that more than 30 officially recognized documentaries, and one might wonder what’s left to say.
Surprisingly, there have been very few actual films about the Beatles themselves. Aside from a handful of small TV movies, only two feature films stand out: ‘Nowhere Boy’ and ‘Backbeat’– neither of which truly center on the Beatles as we know them. ‘Nowhere Boy’ focuses on John Lennon’s adolescence and his time with the Quarrymen, the precursor to the Beatles, while ‘Backbeat’ spotlights original bassist Stuart Sutcliffe, who left the band before their rise to fame and later died of a brain hemorrhage.
To date, perhaps the most authentic portrayal of the Beatles- their personalities, dynamics, and creative process- comes from Disney+’s ‘The Beatles: Get Back’. Directed by Peter Jackson, the nearly eight-hour documentary is drawn from 21 days of footage recorded during the making of Let It Be, their twelfth and final studio album. What emerges is not a glossy myth but the men themselves- sometimes tired, sometimes playful, often brilliant- captured by their own cameras. By the fourth day, the camera becomes just another presence in the room. And these were never performers who polished their personalities for the press. From the beginning, their irreverence was part of their charm: when a reporter once asked John Lennon, “Which one are you?” he replied, deadpan, “Eric,” bewildering the reporter, which you can watch at the start of this compilation of funny Beatles interviews.
It’s precisely this wit and unvarnished humanity- the boyishness that persisted even in their most mature work- that makes casting a narrative Beatles film such a daunting task, and has already sparked debate among fans and critics alike.
The impish charisma and youthful humanity that made the Beatles feel like big kids changing the world is now a point of preemptive critique of Mendes’ tetralogy. Not because it’s absent from anything we’ve seen (because we haven’t seen anything), but because the actors playing them are well into their late 20s and early 30s. For some critics, it’s hard to square the fact that most of the cast is older than the Beatles were by the time the band broke up (John and Ringo were twenty-nine, while George and Paul were twenty-seven).
Related article: Want GUARANTEED SUCCESS? Remove these ten words from your vocabulary| Transform your life INSTANTLY
Related article: Streaming Services Are Killing Movie Theaters
Suspension of Disbelief 101
According to a recent article in The Guardian, “Critics are tearing into the Beatles biopics already.” Peter Bradshaw points out that none of the actors hail from Liverpool- the Beatles’ hometown- and suggests this could be an “issue.” But why should that matter? Marlon Brando wasn’t Italian when he played the head of the Corleone family. Humphrey Bogart, a native New Yorker, certainly wasn’t familiar with Morocco before ‘Casablanca’. And Al Pacino couldn’t draw on his Italian heritage to play ‘Scarface’.
Patrick Cremona of Radio Times adds that these actors are far from “blank slates,” meaning their own fame and personas might make it harder for audiences to see them as the Beatles. He writes, “It would take less suspension of disbelief with an unknown than it does to buy that the long-haired guitar player from ‘Stranger Things’ is actually George Harrison.”
Dear readers, I simply don’t have the time nor the energy to write an entire series of articles dismantling the absurdity of this argument- both about the cast and the very nature of acting itself. Nor do you have the time nor the patience to read it. That energy is better saved for the release of the four films coming in April, 2028.
We all instinctively understand the essential role suspension of disbelief plays in any performance. Take Val Kilmer’s portrayal of Jim Morrison in ‘The Doors’ as a perfect example. Despite Kilmer’s striking resemblance to Morrison and his singing voice being so well-rehearsed that surviving band members couldn’t tell the difference on tape, it’s still unmistakably Val Kilmer playing a role. No matter how brilliant the performance (and Nicolas Cage recently, in paying tribute to his recently deceased co-star Val Kilmer, expressed his opinion that Kilmer deserved an Oscar for it), we’re always aware it’s Kilmer- because we see his name in the opening credits and we know what both men look like. At the time, Kilmer was arguably more famous than Mescal, Quinn, Dickinson, or Keoghan are today.
Related article: EVOLUTION: Every Ryan Gosling Role From 1995 to 2020, All Performances Exceptionally Poignant
Related article: EVOLUTION: Every Henry Cavill Role From 2001 to 2021, All Performances Exceptionally Poignant
Related article: All Best Actor/Actress Speeches From The Beginning Of Oscars 1929-2019 | Hollywood Insider
What Do the Beatles Think?
Historically, the rights to Beatles music have been prohibitively expensive. For example, Danny Boyle reportedly paid $10 million for just 17 songs. Meanwhile, films like ‘Backbeat’ and ‘Nowhere Boy’ weren’t even allowed to use any Beatles music and have faced criticism from the surviving band members.
So, the fact that not only the music rights but also the life rights have been secured for not one, but four films, is a clear stamp of approval. Sony is producing the Sam Mendes project in partnership with Apple Corps- the company the four Beatles founded in 1968- meaning both surviving members, as well as the estates of Lennon and Harrison, have signed on.
With half the legendary band deceased, questions remain about how involved Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr will be not only in their own films but also in those focused on John Lennon and George Harrison. This is a common dilemma with biopics involving living members: they may steer the story away from themselves and highlight their departed bandmates, as seen with films like ‘The Doors’ or ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.
In this case, Sir Ringo’s involvement seems personal and hands-on. He tested actor Keoghan during a face-to-face meeting, inviting him to play drums. Keoghan, known for roles in ‘Saltburn’ and ‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer’, described the encounter on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ as surreal- sitting in the living room of one of the most iconic musicians in history before being offered the drumsticks. “He asked me to get on the drums,” Keoghan relayed. “I couldn’t. I froze.”
The full extent of Sir Paul and Sir Ringo’s involvement in the entire four-film project remains unconfirmed- if it’s ever made public.
Given the Beatles’ history of demanding the highest standards, their approval practically guarantees quality for these films.
Related article: Understanding the Star Wars Timeline
Related article: A Tribute to Francis Ford Coppola: One of Cinema’s Unforgettable Directors | ‘Megalopolis’, ‘The Godfather’ & More
Related article: #metoo Revolution: Powerful Questions That Need Answers
Related article: FACT-CHECKED Series: Timothee Chalamet and 32 Facts about The Young Superstar
By Joseph Tralongo
Click here to read The Hollywood Insider’s CEO Pritan Ambroase’s love letter to Cinema, TV and Media. An excerpt from the love letter: The Hollywood Insider’s CEO/editor-in-chief Pritan Ambroase affirms, “We have the space and time for all your stories, no matter who/what/where you are. Media/Cinema/TV have a responsibility to better the world and The Hollywood Insider will continue to do so. Talent, diversity and authenticity matter in Cinema/TV, media and storytelling. In fact, I reckon that we should announce “talent-diversity-authenticity-storytelling-Cinema-Oscars-Academy-Awards” as synonyms of each other. We show respect to talent and stories regardless of their skin color, race, gender, sexuality, religion, nationality, etc., thus allowing authenticity into this system just by something as simple as accepting and showing respect to the human species’ factual diversity. We become greater just by respecting and appreciating talent in all its shapes, sizes, and forms. Award winners, which includes nominees, must be chosen on the greatness of their talent ALONE.
I am sure I am speaking for a multitude of Cinema lovers all over the world when I speak of the following sentiments that this medium of art has blessed me with. Cinema taught me about our world, at times in English and at times through the beautiful one-inch bar of subtitles. I learned from the stories in the global movies that we are all alike across all borders. Remember that one of the best symbols of many great civilizations and their prosperity has been the art they have left behind. This art can be in the form of paintings, sculptures, architecture, writings, inventions, etc. For our modern society, Cinema happens to be one of them. Cinema is more than just a form of entertainment, it is an integral part of society. I love the world uniting, be it for Cinema, TV, media, art, fashion, sport, etc.
More Interesting Stories From The Hollywood Insider
– Want GUARANTEED SUCCESS? Remove these ten words from your vocabulary| Transform your life INSTANTLY
– A Tribute to Martin Scorsese: A Complete Analysis of the Life and Career of the Man Who Lives and Breathes Cinema
– Do you know the hidden messages in ‘Call Me By Your Name’? Find out behind the scenes facts in the full commentary and In-depth analysis of the cinematic masterpiece
– A Tribute To The Academy Awards: All Best Actor/Actress Speeches From The Beginning Of Oscars 1929-2019 | From Rami Malek, Leonardo DiCaprio To Denzel Washington, Halle Berry & Beyond | From Olivia Colman, Meryl Streep To Bette Davis & Beyond.
– In the 32nd Year Of His Career, Keanu Reeves’ Face Continues To Reign After Launching Movies Earning Over $4.3 Billion In Total – “John Wick”, “Toy Story 4”, “Matrix”, And Many More
Author
You might also like…
Joseph Tralongo is a playwright and screenwriter who approaches storytelling with a deep respect for film’s ability to distill human behavior into meaningful moments. His personal work- i.e. his plays, screenplays, and films- leans into semantic tension, moral ambiguity, and the quiet unraveling of social dynamics- not to preach, but to parse. For him, writing is a slow excavation of truth through craft. With a background in theatre and independent film, he brings a structural precision and dramatic instinct to every film he reviews. Hollywood Insider’s mission to champion substance over spectacle aligns with Joseph’s belief that storytelling should investigate, not dictate.
Joseph Tralongo is a playwright and screenwriter who approaches storytelling with a deep respect for film’s ability to distill human behavior into meaningful moments. His personal work- i.e. his plays, screenplays, and films- leans into semantic tension, moral ambiguity, and the quiet unraveling of social dynamics- not to preach, but to parse. For him, writing is a slow excavation of truth through craft. With a background in theatre and independent film, he brings a structural precision and dramatic instinct to every film he reviews. Hollywood Insider’s mission to champion substance over spectacle aligns with Joseph’s belief that storytelling should investigate, not dictate.
