The stars of The Beatles: A Four-Film Cinematic Event—Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr and Joseph Quinn as George Harrison.
More details and casting decisions have emerged about four distinct theatrical feature films that will tell the story of The Beatles. The groundbreaking creative endeavor, referred to as The Beatles: A Four-Film Cinematic Event, will all be released in April 2028 via Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) and Neal Street Productions. Months after the four principal actors had been cast as the Fab Four, many of the core female roles were announced on Oct. 31, 2025.
The unique roll-out of the films caused their director Sam Mendes to describe them as the first “bingeable moment in cinema.” The casting of Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr and Joseph Quinn as George Harrison was revealed on March 31 at the film industry trade show CinemaCon in Las Vegas during Sony’s presentation. The project was originally announced on February 20, 2024, and marks the first time Apple Corps Ltd. and The Beatles—McCartney, Starr, and the families of Lennon and Harrison—have granted full life story and music rights for a scripted film.
The latest casting involves four-time Academy Award nominee Saoirse Ronan (Little Women, Lady Bird) as Linda (Eastman) McCartney, BAFTA winner Mia McKenna-Bruce (How to Have Sex) as Maureen (Cox) Starkey, Emmy winner Anna Sawai (Shogun) as Yoko Ono and BAFTA winner Aimee Lou Wood (The White Lotus) as Pattie Boyd.
Mia McKenna-Bruce and Saoirse Ronan.
Cox was an early fan of The Beatles who met Ringo Starr at the Cavern Club in 1962. Their romance blossomed quickly, they married in 1965 and had three children together. Eastman was a celebrated photographer when she met McCartney in 1967. There was an instant attraction and McCartney later said, “The first time I saw her, I just knew.” Lennon first met the Japanese artist Ono at a London exhibition of her work. Although Lennon was married at the time, he was immediately intrigued by here, and the two eventually became inseparable creative partners for the rest of his life. Boyd was a successful model when in 1964 she met Harrison on the set of the Beatles movie A Hard Day’s Night. The two began dating and later married, with Boyd sharing Harrison’s growing interest in Eastern mysticism.
Aimee Lou Wood and Anna Sawai.
The announcement of actors portraying Cynthia Lennon, Brian Epstein, George Martin, Ravi Shankar and other key roles will be forthcoming.
“We need big cinematic events to get people out of the house,” Mendes was quoted as saying to the industry attendees at CinemaCon. “I promise it will be worth the trip.”
Of note, Mescal, 29, earned acclaim for his role in 2024’s Gladiator II. Keoghan, 33, received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for 2022’s The Banshees of Inisherin.
From the original 2024 announcement: 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 rock band in history.
SPE will finance and distribute worldwide with full theatrical windows. The dating cadence of the films, the details of which will be shared closer to release, will be innovative and groundbreaking, the announcement promised.
Mendes will direct all four films and produce alongside his Neal Street Productions partner Pippa Harris and Neal Street’s Julie Pastor.
“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,” said Mendes in the 2024 announcement. The filmmaker has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director twice, winning for American Beauty. He was also nominated for 1917. His many other films include two for the James Bond franchise, Skyfall and Spectre.
Mendes is the second Oscar-winning director to be entrusted with documenting The Beatles career in recent years. He follows Peter Jackson, who helmed 2021’s acclaimed eight-hour Get Back docuseries.
“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,” said Harris. “To have The Beatles’ and Apple Corps’ blessing to do this is an immense privilege. From our first meeting with Tom Rothman (chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group) and Elizabeth Gabler (President, Sony 3000 Pictures), 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.”
Related: The Beatles’ first American concert
2 Comments so far
Jump into a conversationI really hope these won’t be boring puff pieces, but instead will be insightful, in-depth views of each Beatle’s journey, experiences, immense talents, and global impact both during and after the Beatles. I would love to see films like that.
v2787: With an Academy Award-winning director at the helm, it’s safe to say that these films are in good hands.