Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes (1917, Spectre) has gotten the green light to begin work on four separate feature films that will tell the individual stories of all four Beatles. According to a release from Sony Pictures Entertainment announcing the project on Tuesday morning (Feb. 20), Mendes will direct the films focused on George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr due out in 2027.
The project will mark the first time the band’s Apple Corps Ltd. and the group — McCartney and Starr and the families of Harrison and Lennon — have given full access to life story and music rights for a scripted film. “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,” said Mendes in a statement.
Mendes will direct the four stand-alone theatrical movies — with each one told from one band member’s point of view — as well as intersecting to tell the full story of the Fab Four. SPE, which will finance and distribute the movies conceived by Mendes, will share the details of the roll-out, which it promised will be “innovative and groundbreaking.”
The director’s Neal Street Productions partner, Pippa Harris, added, “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. 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.”
One of the most scrutinized and studied groups in popular music history, the Fab Four have been the subjects of hundreds of books and docs, including Peter Jackson’s acclaimed 2021 four-part documentary series, Get Back, which incorporated previously unseen and unheard audio and video.
Apple Corps Ltd. CEO Jeff Jones said the company is “delighted to collaborate with Sam, Pippa and Julie to explore each Beatle’s unique story and to bring them together in a suitably captivating and innovative way. Sony Pictures’ enthusiastic support, championing the project’s scope and creative vision from the start, has been invaluable for all of us.”
