From Bond director Sam Mendes: a film each about John, Paul, George and Ringo

Since his success at the 2020 Academy Awards, when his feature film “1917” about the First World War won three awards, things have been quiet for British director Sam Mendes.

Yesterday the 58-year-old, who was also responsible for the Bond films “Skyfall” and “Spectre”, came back all the louder. Mendes wants to bring the story of the Beatles to the cinema by honoring each of the “Fab Four” with their own film. These are supposed to be so-called “biopics”, i.e. biographical feature films.

The still living Beatles, Paul McCartney (81) and Ringo Starr (83), the families of the deceased band members John Lennon (1940-1980) and George Harrison (1943-2001), as well as the production company Apple Corps, which was once founded by the Beatles Ltd. granted the filming rights to the life stories and the music. The cinema release is planned for 2027.

“I’m honored to tell the story of the greatest rock band of all time,” says Mendes (“American Beauty”). The US studio “Sony Pictures Entertainment” and the director’s production company, Neal Street Productions, are behind the large-scale project.

• More about the Beatles and to their “final” song, released in November 2023

Mendes thus gives the biographical genre about music stars further highlights; productions about Elvis Presley (“Elvis”, 2022), Freddie Mercury (“Bohemian Rhapsody”, 2018) and Elton John (“Rocketman”, 2019) have proven to be popular successes brought in hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office.