More on Sony’s distribution plan for Sam Mendes’ highly anticipated Beatles the films have arrived.
Paul Mescal, Harris Dickinson, Joseph Quinn and Barry Keoghan will star as Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr respectively, with all four features currently scheduled for release in the same month in 2028.
Internet savvy fans will have noticed a slew of videos on social media of actors in costumes filming around London over the past few months. For example, in August, they were spotted recreating the group’s iconic song. Abbey Road album cover. The original photo, taken on August 8, 1969, shows the Fab Four walking single file on a pedestrian crossing outside EMI Studios in London.
On Monday, Pippa Harris, Mendes’ long-time producing partner and co-founder of Neal Street Productions, took part in a keynote session at the BFI London Film Festival’s Industry Forum. She provided a coy update on the rollout, currently described as a “four-film cinematic event” during the month of April.
Harris – who came from the set to appear at the Industry Forum for just an hour before heading back – said the crew was currently on the 180th day of filming. She responded later in the session when asked for more details about the distribution plan: “The idea at the moment is that the films will be released in 2028, and we want people to be able to see them in theaters during the same period.”
She clarified: “That doesn’t necessarily mean that we think people will see all four films on the same day. But in the same month, you might see one a week, or one on the weekend, two the next day. Whichever way you look at it, I think we hope people will see all four films,” she continued. “They are individual stories of each of these four men, but they have a cumulative power, which I think is greater than the sum of their parts. The Beatles are, I think, the greatest band in history, and we’re trying to do our best to do them justice. Hence the four films. I don’t think there’s probably another group that you could legitimately say you wanted to see four films for,” she added.
Earlier in the session, she jokingly revealed that cast members had been explicitly asked not to talk about the top-secret films on various red carpets. “It’s a massive project,” Harris said.
Also in the Beatles films, Mia McKenna-Bruce plays Maureen Cox, the wife of Ringo Starr; Anna Sawai will be Yoko Ono, John Lennon’s wife; and Aimee Lou Wood will be Pattie Boyd, who married George Harrison. Saoirse Ronan plays Linda (Eastman) McCartney.
Prolific producer Harris is a titan of the British film and television industry and has worked for decades on some of the most popular shows and films the country has ever produced. Among them are Hamnet, 1917 And Call the midwife.
She spoke in-depth about her extensive career with radio presenter Edith Bowman on Monday, where she reflected on an array of iconic projects, her advice for the aspiring producers in the room and why she’s yet to land that well-deserved Oscar.
The 70th BFI London Film Festival runs from October 7-18.
Gn entert
