It was announced this week that director Sam Mendes—best known for his work on American Beauty, the James Bond films Spectre and Skyfall, and, most recently, the Academy Award-nominated 1917—will be taking on a massive four-part movie project centered on the iconic rock band, The Beatles.
Each film will focus on one of the band members, telling the story of their band’s formation and rise to fame from their unique perspective. Whether the film’s will be staggered or released simultaneously remains to be seen, but there is a tentative release date planned in 2027.
While there have been countless documentaries made about the band—and the band themselves even starred in A Hard Day’s Night: a film wherein they played themselves—this marks the first time they’ll be given the ever-popular biopic treatment.
And, speaking of “first times,” this project will mark the first time ever that Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and the families of John Lennon and George Harrison have granted full rights access to the band’s life story and music catalog, per Entertainment Weekly.
In a recent statement about the massive creative undertaking, Sam Mendes said: “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.”
The film’s producer Pippa Harris went on to add: “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.”
Given this massive announcement, you better believe that fans of the band were beyond excited to see their favorites portrayed on the big screen, with many taking to X to share their “dream castings” for the fab four—some serious, some not so much.
Here are just a few of the best:
There you have it! It’ll be exciting to see the final casting choices for the film—though, admittedly, I think the hobbits have to be my favorite.
