The Beatles to get a Fab Four of biopics — a movie each for Paul, John, George and Ringo

The Beatles are getting the big-screen biopic treatment in not only one film, but a Fab Four of movies that will give each band member his own spotlight — all of which are to be directed by Sam Mendes.

For the first time, the Beatles, long among the stingiest rights granters, are giving full life and music rights to a movie project. Sony Pictures announced on Monday a deal that may dwarf all music biopics that have come before it, with the stories of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr spread out over a quartet of films.

The films, conceived by Mendes, are expected to roll out theatrically in innovative fashion, with the movies potentially coexisting or intersecting in theatres. Precise release plans will be announced at a later date. Sony is targeting 2027 for their release.

McCartney, Starr and the families of Lennon and Harrison have all signed off on the project through the band’s Apple Corps Ltd. Sony Music Publishing controls the rights to most of the Beatles’ songs.

“I’m honoured 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,” Mendes said.

Each film will be from the perspective of a Beatle.

“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,” said producer Pippa Harris. “To have the Beatles and Apple Corps’ blessing to do this is an immense privilege.”

The Beatles’ most famous forays into film were in their early years. Between 1964 and 1970, they appeared in five movies, including A Hard Day’s Night (1964) and the animated Yellow Submarine (1968). They’ve, of course, been the subject of many documentaries, most recently Peter Jackson’s 2021 The Beatles: Get Back.

In 2023, the Beatles reunited with the aid of artificial intelligence in the newly released song Now and Then. The recording was made possible by technology used by Jackson on Get Back, and featured a music video made by the New Zealand director.

Attempts to dramatise the Beatles’ story have been more sporadic and less impactful. A 1979 biopic, made when Lennon was still alive, called The Birth of the Beatles, was produced with the Beatles’ original drummer, Pete Best, as an adviser. The 1994 indie drama Backbeat chronicled Lennon’s relationship with Stuart Sutcliffe before the Beatles were famous. Nowhere Boy (2009) starred Aaron Taylor-Johnson as a teenage Lennon.

But in the past decade, music biopics have become big business. Box-office hits like Bohemian Rhapsody, Rocketman and Elvis have sent Hollywood executives chasing the next jukebox blockbuster. During Presidents’ Day weekend in the US, Bob Marley: One Love, produced with the Marley estate, was the No 1 movie in theatres. A Michael Jackson biopic is in production.

“Theatrical movie events today must be culturally seismic. Sam’s daring, large-scale idea is that and then some,” said Tom Rothman, chairman and chief executive of Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group.

The combination of Mendes’ team “with the music and the stories of four young men who changed the world, will rock audiences all over the globe”, Rothman said. “We are deeply grateful to all parties and look forward ourselves to breaking some rules with Sam’s uniquely artistic vision.”

- AP