On Monday, in a bleak setting with strangely little production value, Sony unveiled its plan and its cast for the Sam Mendes-helmed Beatles biopics. And yes, that plural is not an accident. Sony is not merely making one Beatles movie; it’ll release four, one for each man, all in April 2028. We have questions. Jessica, in fact, ranted about this in today’s Drinks With Broads, so I won’t say much else other than to wonder a) why they all had to dress in black and b) why Sony picked a background that looks like this announcement took place in one of the minor circles of Hell.
The faces of the Fab Four are, left to right, Joseph Quinn as George, Barry Keoghan as Ringo, Harris Dickinson as John, and Paul Mescal as, well, Paul. In all that black, they’re evoking the bad guys from Superman II. Terence Stamp forever.
I wasn’t sure at first, but now that I am staring at them, I can see it? Harris does have that long, narrow Lennon face. Put a wig and a beard and glasses on him and we really might be in business. Mescal can, to my mind, slip into the impish skin of McCartney as seen in this photo. Likewise, this side-by-side makes a convincing case for Keoghan and Ringo, and as for George and Joseph, I’ve seen worse! They’re all good enough actors to get into the spirit without needing to be clones, but I think the energy might be right. Now, do I want four Beatles movies? No. Do I want one Beatles movie? Possibly also no. How many unturned stones are left there, really? But if it’s a mess, I don’t think it’ll be the lads’ fault.
