After months of rehearsal, Sam Mendes is supposed to — finally — start production on his four Beatles movies next month. The films are set to be shot consecutively, each with a different screenwriter in a “Rashomon”-style narrative. The logistics of this project are just as fascinating as the films themselves.
We already know the main cast: Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison, and Harris Dickinson as John Lennon. How about the wives?
It’s now being reported that four-time Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan (“Brooklyn”) has joined the project to play Linda McCartney, the first wife of Paul McCartney, in Mendes’ “The Beatles — A Four-Film Cinematic Event,” multiple sources tell Deadline.
It should also be mentioned that Anna Sawai (“Shōgun”) is rumored to be circling the project to play Yoko Ono, and Aimee Lou Wood (“The White Lotus”) might be playing Patti Boyd, George Harrison’s wife of 11 years.
With each of Mendes’ Beatles films focusing on a different member of the band, Ronan is expected to play a central role in the McCartney installment, though it remains unclear whether she will appear in the other three.
The Beatles films from Mendes, all set for theatrical release in April 2028, represent a bold experiment in event-style filmmaking. Mendes will direct, working from scripts by Jez Butterworth, Peter Straughan, and Jack Thorne, though it remains unclear which writer is handling which project.
The films are expected to have a 15-month shoot. Puck’s Matt Belloni recently reported that the movies are “said to be costing about $100M each.” That’s $400M+ in total — a price tag that rivals the biggest studio bets of the past decade. Sony Pictures head Tom Rothman, however, is betting big on Mendes.
Greig Fraser, who stepped away from Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Three” and Matt Reeves’ “The Batman: Part Two,” will serve as cinematographer on “Beatles.”
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