Which controversial Beatles stories will make it to the big screen in Mendes’ four-film saga?

THEY are the biggest band of all time — and now the actors who will play them on the big screen have been unveiled.

The Beatles — A Four-Film Cinematic Event will explore the lives of the Fab Four in a series of interconnected movies, one from each member’s perspective.

How the new line-up for the Beatles movie might look, along with the original record cover with John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr

The unveiling of the movie cast, with Paul Mescal, Joseph Quinn, Barry Keoghan, and Harris DickinsonCredit: AFP
And a year on from director Sir Sam Mendes announcing he was involved with the project, it has been revealed that Gladiator II’s Paul Mescal will portray Sir Paul McCartney, Babygirl actor Harris Dickinson is John Lennon, Stranger Things’ Joseph Quinn takes on George Harrison and Oscar-nominated Barry Keoghan bangs the drum for Sir Ringo Starr.

Dressed all in black, the quartet took a bow on stage in Las Vegas on Monday night as they were introduced for the first time.

The movies, which will be released in “close proximity” in April 2028, make up the most anticipated music film series yet.

It follows a spate of Hollywood music biopics, which will see films about Michael Jackson and Bruce Springsteen out this year, hot on the heels of January’s A Complete Unknown starring Timothee Chalamet as Bob Dylan.

So far, Paul, 82, has been tight-lipped about the casting, but the only other surviving Beatle, Ringo, 84, said that Keoghan would be “great”.

‘Nothing off-limits’

Online there was a mixed reaction, with some describing the line-up as “brilliant” while others complained they did not look like the band.

Director Mendes, who was behind James Bond movies Skyfall and Spectre, has been trying to make a film about the mop-topped Liverpudlian quartet for a long time.

But he said he “gave up” because there are too many important events to get into one movie.

We’re not just making one film about The Beatles — we’re making four. Perhaps this is a chance to understand them a little more deeply.

Sam Mendes, Director

However, at the official launch of his four films this week, he said: “There had to be a way to tell the epic story for a new generation.

“I can assure you there is still plenty left to explore and I think we found a way to do that.

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“We’re not just making one film about The Beatles — we’re making four. Perhaps this is a chance to understand them a little more deeply.”

Formed in 1960, The Beatles released 12 studio albums over the next decade.

In November 2023, they scored a number one single with Now And Then, a 1977 John Lennon demo song that was later abandoned.

The fascination with The Beatles is as great now as it ever has been.

Documentaries and films related to the group appear in cinemas on a regular basis.

Next week, Bafta-winning director Kevin Macdonald releases One To One: John & Yoko, about the only post-Beatles full-length show by John Lennon, who was shot dead aged 40 by a crazed fan in 1980.

Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Sean Lennon and Olivia Harrison responded with such warmth and enthusiasm as soon as Sam spoke with them.

Pippa Harris, Producer
And last October, Midas Man told the story of the “fifth Beatle”, their manager Brian Epstein.

But The Beatles — A Four-Film Cinematic Event will be the first time the band’s company, Apple Corps, has approved the rights to their music in a scripted film that tells all of their life stories.

The movies have been given the green light by Paul, Ringo and the families of John and George, who died aged 58 in 2001. And they are said to be giving complete artistic freedom to director Sam.

Producer Pippa Harris said: “Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Sean Lennon and Olivia Harrison responded with such warmth and enthusiasm as soon as Sam spoke with them.

“What is truly exciting is for Sam to have the freedom to delve into the lives of each of the Beatles, with nothing off-limits and no sense of the band wanting him to tell a particular ‘authorised’ version of their rise.”

In the past, Paul is said to have been protective about the way he has been portrayed in print and on film.

When author Steven Gaines published Beatles biography The Love You Make in 1983, McCartney was apparently “furious” about the revelations.

Gaines, who interviewed Paul, Ringo and George for the book, told The Times last year: “Paul and Linda tore the book apart and burned it in the fireplace, page by page.

“There was an omerta, a code of silence, around The Beatles, and they didn’t think anyone would come forward to tell the truth.”

There is certainly plenty of controversial material about the Fab Four.

Will Mendes be brave enough to delve into Lennon’s jealous rages, which included hitting women?

How much of the band’s epic drug taking — Paul used LSD and John was addicted to heroin — will make it into the movies?

One of the juiciest parts of the George and Ringo story has to be guitarist George having an affair with the drummer’s then wife Maureen.