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Oscar-winning "Skyfall" director Sam Mendes is currently mounting "The Beatles — A Four-Film Cinematic Event," one of the most ambitious biographical projects in movie history. The story has been divided into four films, each told from the perspective of a different band member, and all four are set to hit theaters in April 2028. With each installment reportedly budgeted at roughly $100 million, the combined price tag will exceed $400 million, making this a true cinematic epic. The part that has left Hollywood scratching its head, however, is the decision to release them all within the same month. Promoting four movies at once would already be a daunting task, but expecting audiences to see four separate films in such a tight window is virtually unprecedented.
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The filmmakers have now offered an initial explanation for the unusual rollout. During a panel at the BFI London Film Festival, producer Pippa Harris explained why the team settled on this release strategy: "The current plan is for the films to arrive in 2028, and we want audiences to experience them in theaters during the same period. Within that month, you might watch one each week, or see one during the first weekend, two the next and another the weekend after that. However you choose to do it, we hope people will watch all four. I think the Beatles are the greatest band in history, and we are doing everything we can to tell their story properly, which is why we made four films. I cannot think of another band that could legitimately make audiences want to see four movies about them."
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The cast includes Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison, Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney and Harris Dickinson as John Lennon. Anna Sawai will play Lennon's second wife, Yoko Ono, while Saoirse Ronan stars as McCartney's first wife, Linda Eastman, and Aimee Lou Wood portrays Harrison's first wife, Pattie Boyd.
The screenwriting team features "Conclave" writer Peter Straughan, "Adolescence" writer Jack Thorne, "Ford v Ferrari" co-writer Jez Butterworth and Krysty Wilson-Cairns, who previously collaborated with Mendes on "1917." The project also marks the first time the Beatles and Apple Corps have granted full life-story and music rights for a scripted film.