Sony Pictures announce the final casting of ‘The Beatles’ – the four-film cinematic event directed by Sam Mendes

The Beatles – a four-film cinematic event – is being directed by Sam Mendes and is to star Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr, and Joseph Quinn as George Harrison. Photograph by John Russo. Styling, I’m not sure, but I’m loving Barry in the spunky Sgt. Pepper-ish leather jackie here – which of course won’t feature in the film, silly; they’ll have special costume designers for that).

Unless you’ve had your head in the sand, you’ve probably heard by now that director Sam Mendes is in pre-production stages for, not one, but four films about The Beatles, with each film set to be a separate biopic about John, Paul, George and Ringo, and each shot from that Beatle’s perspective.

Today, the final cast for these set-to-be-epic-we-hope films has been announced. Ringo-style drumroll please…

Harris Dickinson will be playing John Lennon; Paul Mescal will be stepping into the shoes of Paul McCartney; spunky Barry Keoghan will be donning Ringo Starr’s mop top; and Joseph Quinn will be playing George Harrison.

Harris Dickinson is best known for his role as the young hottie who seduced Nicole Kidman in Babygirl, so he’d be pretty good to play a cheeky Lennon. Paul Mescal featured in 2020’s Normal People and is a pretty good pick to play boy-next-door McCartney. Barry Keoghan, of course, was the standout in controversial pic Saltburn, and makes for an interesting choice to play loveable Ringo (must be the loveable larrikin in him). And Joseph Quinn of Stranger Things fame is fairly good choice for esoteric Harrison.

Charlie Rowe (Neverland) was going to play Harrison but producers obviously thought Quinn was the man for the job. And, personally, I am rejoicing that an obvious choice of Timothée Chalamet as one of the fab four was gladly veto-ed (I’m certain his name was brought up in board meetings). And, no, we don’t think he could play Beatles manager Brian Epstein.

Sony Films greenlit all four films early last year, and the films are set for release in April 2028 but with these films being such mammoth undertakings, I wouldn’t be surprised if that date gets postponed.

“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,” said Mendes, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker behind American Beauty, and the James Bond films Skyfall and Spectre.

The films received go-aheads from Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, while the families of John Lennon and George Harrison have also shared their approval, marking the first time the remaining Beatles, their families, and their enterprise Apple Corps have all granted full life story and music rights for a scripted film production.

Beatles fans are waiting with anticipation to see if director Mendes and cast can pull this epic venture off. We are, after all, dealing with the greatest band in the history of music.

Antonino Tati