The Beatles are going solo all over again. Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, and John Lennon will each be the subject of their own solo films directed by Sam Mendes, who is taking a microscopic approach to the usually overarching music biopic narrative. The films, according to a statement from Sony Pictures, will tell the story of the Beatles from each member’s point of view.
“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,” Mendes shared in a statement.
Mendes — whose previous credits include American Beauty, Revolutionary Road, Skyfall, and more — will be the first to have full access to both the life stories of each member and the band’s music rights for a scripted film. He will direct all four films and produce alongside Neal Street Productions’ Pippa Harris and Julie Pastor.
“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,” Harris shared. “To have The Beatles’ and Apple Corps’ blessing to do this is an immense privilege. From our first meeting with Tom Rothman and Elizabeth Gabler, 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.”
The four films are expected to be completed and ready for theatrical release in 2027. The format of the premiere schedule and the order in which the films will come out has not yet been detailed, though a press release has described the approach as “innovative and groundbreaking.”
In 2021, the Beatles three-part docuseries Get Back premiered on Disney+ with nearly eight hours of archival footage. It was a feast for fans of the band, who received an up close and personal look at the journey to their final public performance in January 1969. That one event was meant to be captured by Peter Jackson in a two-hour film, who got it down to eight hours, but has mentioned the existence of an 18-hour director’s cut. It’s no surprise that the legend of the Beatles would need to span four separate movies.
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“Theatrical movie events today must be culturally seismic. Sam’s daring, large-scale idea is that and then some,” Tom Rothman, Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures’ Motion Picture Group, shared in a statement. “Pairing his premiere filmmaking team, with the music and the stories of four young men who changed the world, will rock audiences all over the globe. We are deeply grateful to all parties and look forward ourselves to breaking some rules with Sam’s uniquely artistic vision.”