Sam Mendes has officially confirmed the main cast and release date for his Beatles biopics at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on March 31, as BBC News reports. All four films—each centering on a different member of the fab four—are set to come out in April 2028, and will star Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison, and Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr.
While Peter Jackson recently directed the 2021 documentary The Beatles: Get Back, Mendes’ tetralogy will mark the first scripted films to be granted the band’s music and life rights. Last year, Keoghan appeared in the music video for Fontaines D.C.’s “Bug,” and Mescal in a video for his now-ex Phoebe Bridgers. Quinn plays the metalhead Eddie Munson on Stranger Things, which landed him a chance to jam with Metallica in 2022.
It’s uncertain if Mescal will meet with McCartney ahead of shooting, but he’s already got prominent lead acting roles under his belt with Gladiator II, Aftersun, All of Us Strangers, and The Lost Daughter. The same goes for Keoghan, who could reach out to Starr for suggestions on how to capture the drummer, though he’s already portrayed complex characters in Saltburn, The Batman, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, and Banshees of Inisherin. As for Dickinson, his starring roles in Babygirl, The Iron Claw, and Triangle of Sadness preface his take on John Lennon.
The Beatles themselves helmed a handful of theatrical films during their run: A Hard Day’s Night, Help!, Magical Mystery Tour, Yellow Submarine, and Let It Be. They recently won Best Rock Performance at the 2025 Grammy Awards for “Now and Then,” a salvaged and digitally restored Lennon demo dating back to the 1970s.
Read the new Sunday Review of the Beatles bootleg Live! at the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany; 1962.
