In one of the most ambitious moves by a studio, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Oscar-winning filmmaker Sam Mendes have set plans to make four separate theatrical films, one on each of the members of The Beatles.
Mendes will direct all four films. For the first time ever, Apple Corps. and The Beatles have granted full life story and music rights for a scripted film. No actors have yet to be cast as the Fab Four. You’ll be hearing a lot about this one in the coming months.
What a wild vision from Mendes. These are set to be interconnected stories, one from each band member’s point of view. A full theatrical launch is set for 2027, for all four films. Writers are close to being signed on.
“We went out to L.A. just before Christmas to pitch the project, and it’s fair to say we were met with universal enthusiasm,” Mendes told Deadline. “The reason Sony stood out from competing offers was down to Tom and Elizabeth’s passion for the idea, and commitment to propelling these films theatrically in an innovative and exciting way.”
Mendes and Sony will tackle Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr’s coming of age when they became global stars, the breakup and their solo recording careers. It’s as vast and ambitious as big studio films get.
This project must also be why Mendes dropped out of directing “Hamnet,” and Chloe Zhao hopped on board to replace him.
Last we heard from Mendes, he had directed 2022’s “Empire of Light,” which was failed Oscar-bait. Olivia Colman was great, Roger Deakins’ photography impeccable, but there was a strenuous hand to the whole thing as it dealt with the power of cinema, 1980s racism and mental illness.
Of course, with Mendes you just never know what you’re going to get. The British filmmaker does tend to hit the mark with critics, more so than not (“American Beauty,” “Skyfall,” “Road to Perdition,” “1917”). He’s also had his fair share of duds (“Spectre,” “Jarhead,” “Away We Go”).