Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes has announced he will be directing four separate fiction films, one for each member of The Beatles.
The British film and stage director, producer, and screenwriter has the full approval of Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr as well as the families of John Lennon and George Harrison.
This announcement is extra special as it is the first time the fab four, and right holders Apple, have granted full life story and music rights for a scripted film!
WATCH NOW: Paul McCartney reveals The Beatles’ final song created with AI. Article continues after video.
Mendes has revealed that all four films will be released in 2027 and will tell a single story about The Beatles, the most celebrated band of all time, through the connected perspectives of each band member.
“We intend this to be a uniquely thrilling and epic cinematic experience,” said Pippa Harris, who will codirect alongside Mendes.
“To have The Beatles’ and Apple Corps’ blessing to do this is an immense privilege,” she added.
“From our first meeting with Tom Rothman and Elizabeth Gabler, it was clear that they shared both our passion and ambition for this project, and we can’t think of a more perfect home than Sony Pictures.”
Mendes said: “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.”
No writers or cast have been announced at this stage.
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The Beatles formed back in 1960, changing the course of musical history forever. To this day, they are still regarded as the most influential band of all time.
The band produced 12 studio albums (17 in the US), 5 live albums, 51 compilation albums, 36 extended plays (EPs), 63 singles, 17 box sets, 22 video albums, and 53 music videos before breaking up in 1970.
Given their significant effect on the music industry, this isn’t the first film to be made about the iconic band…
About 18 biopics of the band have appeared on the big and small screen, including the most well-known being Backbeat and Nowhere Boy. Many documentaries have also been released over the years including The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years and Get Back from 2021, a three-part eight-hour movie.
Mendes, 58, has directed movies such as 1917, American Beauty, Revolutionary Road, and two of the most successful ever James Bond films, Skyfall and Spectre.
American Beauty, his debut film, won five Oscars in 2000 and his two James Bond films remain the highest-grossing in the franchise.
It’s no doubt that Mendes is incredibly successful within the industry; however, he said he was “he was “honoured to be telling the story of the greatest rock band of all time.”
Harris explained to Deadline that Mendes had the idea over a year ago, “and it’s a testament to his creative brilliance and powers of persuasion that Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Sean Lennon and Olivia Harrison responded with such warmth and enthusiasm as soon as he spoke with them”.
“What is truly exciting is for Sam to have the freedom to delve into the lives of each of the Beatles, with nothing off limits and no sense of the band wanting him to tell a particular ‘authorised’ version of their rise to success.”
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