Fans of The Beatles woke up to a surprise announcement this morning.
After a year of rumours about who will play the Beatles in the upcoming Song Pictures biopic about the Fab Four, the cast has officially been announced.
Star of Blitz and Where the Crawdads Sing Harris Dickinson will play John Lennon in the four-film ‘cinematic event’, while Normal People star Paul Mescal will take up the role of Sir Paul McCartney, Masters of the Air’s Barry Keoghan will portray Sir Ringo Starr, and Stranger Things star Joseph Quinn will be George Harrison.
It’s a star-studded line-up of actors, with Paul and Barry rumoured to be playing Sir Paul and Sir Ringo in the Sir Sam Mendes-directed films for months.
While the four films will not be released until April 2028, many fans have expressed their confusion at the casting,confessing that they can’t see the resemblance between the actors and the Hey Jude hitmakers.
Reactions to The Beatles biopic casting
‘That man is not George Harrison in any way lol,’ wrote @kboldens, while @maculvein said: ‘If these are any good at all the hair and makeup team need to be awarded the nobel prize.’
‘Even if I squint, I don’t see The Beatles,’ said @Road2Oscars as @LSN_Frantz asked: ‘They don’t look anything like The Beatles. There were no no-name up and coming actors that looked like the band? ‘
‘No way it’s real i thought twas April fools post,’ commented @avterhour.
‘It’s horribly miscast. Only thing in common is they’re both vaguely weird looking,’ said LedOverlord, talking about Ringo’s choice in reply to @maxmax024, who called the it ‘god mode casting’.
‘Obviously the studio saw something in the casting room we haven’t… I’m excited to see what they bring!!!’ commented nolanmcbean on Instagram.
‘Couldn’t find any actors that at least resemble them slightly?’ asked idpreferyoudead.
However, others defended the casting.
‘People moaning about resemblance for the umpteenth time as if they hadn’t been shown time and time again that acting talent is way more important than who looks like who,’ commented @lucashedgess.
@kathypaz felt nothing but excitement, writing, ‘The upcoming four biopics for The Beatles may just be THE cinematic event of the 2020s. I am SO excited for these films,’ while @nikkimeagher said: ‘This is what you call a showstopper.’
When will The Beatles biopic be released
Others were miffed that they will have to wait three whole years to see the films, while some speculated that no one has the time or money to go to the cinema four times in one month.
‘I love The Beatles, but idk how many people are gonna go to the cinema 4 times in one month for one interconnected project,’ said @Scooped_Mids.
What we know about The Beatles biopic
The multi-movie project marks the first time Apple Corps Ltd. and the Beatles – Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Ringo Starr, and the families of John Lennon and George Harrison – have granted full life story and music rights for a scripted film.
Speaking at the CinemaCon convention in Las Vegas on Monday, which the cast also attended, Sir Sam called the films the ‘first binge-able theatrical experience’.
‘I’ve been trying to make a story about The Beatles for years,’ he added.
It was already announced that Sir Sam will produce the films under his Neal Street Productions banner alongside its co-founder Dame Pippa Harris, the former chairwoman of Bafta, and Julie Pastor.
Sir Ringo previously appeared to let slip that Saltburn star Keoghan had taken on the role.
He told Entertainment Tonight: ‘I believe he’s somewhere taking drum lessons, and I hope not too many.’
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When Sir Ridley Scott was promoting his second Roman epic Gladiator II last year, he revealed star Paul was joining the Beatles project, telling an industry event that the actor was ‘actually stacked up, doing the Beatles next’ so he may not be able to join him on his next film.
There have been previous films about the Beatles, including Nowhere Boy, about Lennon growing up in Liverpool, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
This isn’t the first time that moviemakers have been inspired by the lives of The Beatles for their films.
Midas Man, Nowhere Boy, and Yesterday are all films inspired by The Beatles, but don’t claim to be entirely accurate portrayals.
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