The cast for the upcoming Beatles biopic films set to be directed by Sam Mendes was announced Monday at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. At the event, Mendes revealed and called to the stage the four actors who will be playing the Fab Four: Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison, Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr, and Harris Dickinson as John Lennon.
"I've been wanting to make a film about The Beatles for years," Mendes said.
Titled The Beatles -- A Four-Film Cinematic Event, Mendes also announced that all four films will be released in April 2028. Each film -- one for each member of the Beatles -- will make up a four-part installment telling the life story of each musician, with Mendes calling the films, "The first binge-able theatrical experience."
Cast of Beatles biopic is announced
The biopics will be directed and produced by Mendes, most known for works such as 1917, American Beauty, and Skyfall, and released through Sony Pictures. Mendes will also be the first film director to have full access to the band's music rights and complete access to the life stories of each Beatle.
Each film will be told from each band member's point of view, with Mendes noting, "Perhaps this will be a chance to understand them a little more deeply."
While this biopic has been a long-awaited project, with many already dubbing the film to be the first of its kind, many people have taken to social media to voice their opinions on the actors set to play each Beatle.
In an Instagram post from the Associated Press announcing the cast reveal, many users commented that the news must be an April Fool's joke, as it arrived on the first day of April. All four main cast members are some of Hollywood's most popular actors in today's pop culture, prompting one user to comment, "Are there more than five men in Hollywood?"
Other users are criticizing the project as a whole, questioning whether Hollywood needs to produce yet another band biopic. "Cringey, no," one user commented. "The Beatles does not need a biopic film. We all have the docus, interviews, music videos, and magazines -- and those are all we needed and nothing else."
Comments on the Reddit subreddit r/movies don't seem any more hopeful about the upcoming films, with many Redditors commenting on how none of the prominent cast members resemble the Liverpool legends.
One user wrote, "This casting feels a lot like 'let's cast the hot guys of the moment' instead of 'let's cast people that will bring life to the roles.' Great actors, all. But if I were a producer, I would cast some unknowns that maybe look more the part and are proven musical artists for their respective instruments."
In recent years, biographical films focusing on the lives and careers of music's most famous artists have skyrocketed in popularity. In 2024 alone, we saw three notable musician biopics, including Back To Black, Bob Marley: One Love, and most recently A Complete Unknown, a Bob Dylan biopic starring Timothée Chalamet in the lead role, which earned him an Academy Award "Best Actor" nomination and a Screen Actors Guild Awards win.
Other popular biopics over the years include Bohemian Rhapsody, Elvis, and Rocketman.
While films about the lives of musicians are an interesting way to see our favorite artists portrayed in a new light and an excellent way for newer generations to fall in love with music's most legendary figures, biopics come with their faults.
Musician biopics are never completely truthful, and Hollywood very often bends the truth to tell a more exciting cinematic story, especially when they can't get music rights for an artist.