The Beatles Biopics: Everything We Know

The Beatles are back—at least on screen.

Director Sam Mendes (who has helmed 1917, Spectre, Revolutionary Road, and more) is creating four films about the legendary British group, in association with Sony Pictures Entertainment and Mendes’s Neal Street Productions. After Deadline first broke the news in February 2024, Ringo Starr tweeted that the films were fully supported by himself and the families of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and George Harrison.

This is the first time Apple Corps Ltd. and The Beatles have granted a scripted film expansive life story and music rights, making this a major feat. Here’s what we know about the movies, officially titled The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event, so far.

After much speculation, Sony Pictures confirmed the lead cast of the biopics during CinemaCon 2025: Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr, and Joseph Quinn as George Harrison.

The group rang in the news onstage at the Las Vegas event on March 31, 2025.

Paul Mescal, Joseph Quinn, Barry Keoghan, and Harris Dickinson at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on March 31, 2025.

The official announcement came after months of rumors and reports of the possible cast for this highly anticipated project.

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Ringo Starr seemed to confirm that Keoghan had been cast as his youthful doppelgänger. When asked about the actor possibly being a match, Starr replied, “Well, I think he’s great, and I believe he’s somewhere taking drum lessons.” He added that he hopes Keoghan doesn’t take “too many lessons” so he could find his personal groove.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, director Ridley Scott reportedly hinted that Paul Mescal was cast for the role of Paul McCartney during a Directors Guild of America event on Dec. 10, 2024. While also addressing Mescal’s potential involvement in his upcoming project The Dog Stars, Scott noted, “Yes. Well, maybe. Paul is actually stacked up, doing the Beatles next. So I may have to let him go,” suggesting Mescal’s role in the biopic series.

Mescal even addressed the speculation in an interview with Entertainment Tonight, calling the possible opportunity “a dream come true,” but did not confirm any involvement at the time.

In December 2024, Deadline reported that Stranger Things’ Joseph Quinn was likely signed on to play George Harrison, adding that he was seen carrying a guitar on set while filming the new Fantastic Four film.

According to Deadline, Saoirse Ronan will play Linda McCartney, Paul McCartney’s first wife and the mother of their daughter, designer Stella McCartney. Linda was a renowned photographer and musician who sadly passed away from breast cancer in 1998.

Paul Mescal and Saoirse Ronan will play Paul and Linda McCartney, respectively.

In early October, Variety reported that the films may have found their Yoko Ono and Pattie Boyd in stars Anna Sawai and Aimee Lou Wood, respectively. Ono, an artist and musician, married John Lennon, welcoming their son Sean Lennon in 1975. They remained married until John’s death in 1980. Boyd was one of the biggest models of the era and she was married to George Harrison. They divorced and she eventually married musician Eric Clapton.

Sony confirmed all four films (one from each band member’s perspective) will open in theaters in April 2028. Mendes described the tandem releases as a unique “bingeable moment in cinema,” according to Deadline.

He added that it would take more than a year to shoot all four films. Production List previously reported that filming in London is scheduled for July 2025, but Sony has yet to confirm.

It’s still unclear in which order the films will be released.

Sony’s official logline teases: “Each man has his own story, but together they are legendary.”

Mendes hasn’t been too specific about the plot—the details of the band’s life and history together is pretty well-covered in myriad movies and documentaries anyway, so it is really a matter of style over substance. The Oscar-winning director previously indicated that the films will be interwoven and include one band member’s point of view per movie.

The director explained at CinemaCon, “I had been trying to do a film for years, but I finally gave up,” feeling that the “story was too big for one film.” He also didn’t think a TV series was the right fit. “There had to be a way to tell the epic story for a new generation … I can assure you there is still plenty left to explore and I think we found a way to do that,” he said, per Deadline.

Mendes is directing all four films and producing with Pippa Harris, Julie Pastor, and Alexandra Derbyshire.

In an interview with The New York Times, Ringo Starr explained he met with director Sam Mendes in London to discuss his issues with the script. The Beatles drummer mainly had a problem with how his first marriage to Maureen Starkey Tigrett was depicted.

“He had a writer—very good writer, great reputation, and he wrote it great, but it had nothing to do with Maureen and I,” Starr explained. “That’s not how we were. I’d say, ‘We would never do that.’”

Starr was happy with the changes made, but expressed he’s concerned about Mendes trying to film all four movies at the same time.

“But he’ll do what he’s doing, and I’ll send him peace and love,” he added.

This story will be updated.