It’s the title of a track off Rubber Soul and the thing that fans will have to do for a good long while before the big Beatles biopic project comes out: “Wait.” In a recent interview with Variety‘s Stagecraft podcast (via NME), director Sam Mendes gave a brief update on the timeline for his four individual movies about John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr. “I’ve got this huge Beatles project that I’m working on for the next several years,” he said. “So this is the last time you’ll see me until some time in the middle of 2028.”
That is a long way off, but it’s not a particularly surprising update. Movies already take time to come together, and this endeavor is even more complicated. Mendes is directing four individual biopics telling the same story from the perspective of each member of the group, which will all “intersect to tell the astonishing story of the greatest band in history,” according to the announcement back in February. Sony, the studio behind this ambitious project, described it in these vague and mysterious terms (via Vanity Fair): “The dating cadence of the films, the details of which will be shared closer to release, will be innovative and groundbreaking.”
Though there have been Beatles and Beatles-adjacent films in the past, Mendes’ movies have earned the distinction of being the only project granted the life story and music rights from Apple Corps Ltd. and the Beatles (as well as the estates of the two deceased members) themselves. The rumor mill has been churning about casting since the announcement, and the names that have floated to the top are your typical non-American Twitter white boys of the month: Harris Dickinson, Barry Keoghan, Joseph Quinn, and Paul Mescal. Rumors are only that, but the chatter has been persistent enough that it made its way into GQ‘s profile of Mescal, who told the outlet, “I would love to be involved, but there’s nothing set in stone.” Seems like this one will be a big commitment for an actor—presumably a bigger commitment than your typical film shoot—but good or bad, it’ll certainly be one for the history books.
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