Sony Pictures Entertainment and Oscar-winning filmmaker Sam Mendes have set plans to make four separate theatrical films on each of the band members of The Beatles, it was reported on Tuesday.
“The project marks the first time (Beatles’ label) Apple Corps Ltd. and The Beatles – Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and the families of John Lennon and George Harrison - have granted full life story and music rights for a scripted film,” the studio said in a statement, according to AFP.
Mendes plans to tell interconnected stories – one from each band member’s point of view, and will be directing all four films.
Mendes, whose directorial credits include ‘American Beauty’ and James Bond films ‘Skyfall’ and ‘Spectre,’ said he was “honored to be telling the story of the greatest rock band of all time,” according to AFP.
‘Last’ Beatles song set for release next week
“Sam’s daring, large-scale idea is that and then some. Pairing his premiere filmmaking team, with the music and the stories of four young men who changed the world, will rock audiences all over the globe,” Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group chairman/CEO was quoted as saying by Deadline.
The films are expected to come out in 2027.
The iconic English rock band burst onto the scene in Liverpool in 1960 and are regarded as the most influential band of all time.
They started off with blues-inspired love songs and then evolving into edgy artists who embraced hot-button issues.
The ten-year collaboration between McCartney, Lennon, Harrison and Starr resulted in 14 best-selling albums, almost a billion records sold and several films.
Last autumn, with the help of artificial intelligence, a new song, ‘Now and Then’ – originally recorded four decades ago as a demo – was produced and released, topping the British charts.
Here Comes the AI: Fans rejoice in ‘new’ Beatles music
After the band broke up in 1970, each member proceeded in different directions as solo artists, continuing to produce quality music and No. 1 hit records.
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