There are few groups in the history of music that have become as well-known as the Liverpool Four, who at the time proclaimed themselves “more famous than Jesus Christ.” Now they seem to have passed the baton to the swiftmaniabut his reign will once again be captured on the big screen by the hand of Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Road to perdition, Revolutionary Road or more recently Heavy rain, Spectre o 1917). Although it may seem like a lie, The Beatles haven’t had a great biopic at the heightalthough there are several parallel stories, documentaries and even films starring themselves.
All that will change with the help of the British filmmaker. Last February, Sony announced that it was preparing four Beatles filmsone for each of its members. “We went to Los Angeles just before Christmas to present the project, and it’s fair to say we were greeted with universal enthusiasm. The reason Sony stood out among the competing offerings was due to Tom and Elizabeth’s passion for the idea, and commitment to pushing these films into theaters in an innovative and exciting way,” Mendes said, referring to the producers and executives Tom Rothman and Elizabeth Gabler.
A few weeks ago, Ringo Starr himself announced that Barry Keoghan was going to be in charge of playing him in Mendes’ project. “I think it’s great”Starr himself said. “I think he’s somewhere taking drum lessons, and I hope not too many,” he added with a laugh to EW. Of course, the fact that Starr has spoken about Keoghan does not mean that it is something completely confirmed, since Variety points out that there is still no closed contract with any performer according to sources close to Mendes’ team.
The rumors continue to circulate, although they are beginning to take shape. If first it was Starr, now it has been Ridley Scott who has come to confirm the choice of the next Beatle. During a conversation with Christopher Nolan at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Scott said he plans his next project to be the feature-length thriller The Dog Stars. When Nolan asked if Mescal was going to star in the film, Scott confirmed that was true, before correcting himself and explaining that Mescal’s agenda may prevent the Gladiator II couple from getting together again. “Paul is very busy, he is doing the Beatles now. So maybe I have to let it go.”said the Briton.
During an interview with Entertainment Tonight Last month, Paul Mescal was asked how he would feel playing McCartney in light of the rumors. “It would be an incredible story to be a part of”he said cautiously. “The fact that Sam Mendes is going to direct it would be a dream come true.” When the outlet wanted to dig a little deeper to see if he found gold, asking him directly if he was going to play McCartney, the Irishman was a little sharper: “No, no, no… we’re not going there.”
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