'The Beatles' biopics: Director Sam Mendes lining up supporting cast, including Yoko Ono

There has never been a band comparable to the Beatles, so it stands to reason that capturing their music-altering run as a film would require an approach just as unprecedented.

That seems to be the logic behind Sony Pictures' The Beatles — A Four-Film Cinematic Event, the collection of biopics — each told from the perspective of an individual band member — officially unveiled at CinemaCon earlier this year.

The four interconnected films are currently casting up ahead of production and a planned 2028 release. In the meantime, here's everything you need to know about the ambitious project.
Who is playing the Beatles in the movies?

Sony understandably made a spectacle of their casting announcement, revealing the four leads for the "Cinematic Event" at CinemaCon, all of whom are actors on the rise from the British Isles.

Oscar nominee Paul Mescal will play Paul McCartney. Babygirl breakout Harris Dickinson will be John Lennon. The Banshees of Inisherin Best Supporting Actor nominee Barry Keoghan will play Ringo Starr. Stranger Things and The Fantastic Four: First Steps actor Joseph Quinn will be George Harrison.  Who else has been cast?

Casting outside of the Fab Four has picked up recently with Mendes adding actors to play romantic partners for each of the Beatles, as well as their manager.

Four-time Academy Award nominee Saoirse Ronan is on-board to play Linda McCartney. Deadline reported that Mia McKenna-Bruce (How to Have Sex) is playing Starr's first wife Maureen Starkey. Variety then claimed that Emmy-winning Shōgun star Anna Sawai and recent Emmy-nominated The White Lotus player Aimee Lou Wood are "circling" the roles of Yoko Ono and Harrison's first wife, Pattie Boyd, respectively.

Also joining the cast is James Norton (House of Guinness) as the man who helped shape the Beatles into the band that took over the world, manager Brian Epstein.  Who is writing and directing?

While Oscar winner and four-time nominee Sam Mendes is taking on directing duties for all four movies, a trio of writers are splitting up the scripts. Jez Butterworth (Ford v Ferrari), Oscar-winning Conclave scribe Peter Straughan, and recent Emmy winner for Adolescence Jack Thorne are all signed up for screenwriting duties, though it's unclear how the workload will be divided.

Source: Kevin P. Sullivan/goldderby.com

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