Sony announces Beatles biopic cast – internet responds: “April Fools?”
Paul Mescal is slated to star as Paul McCartney, while Barry Keoghan will play Ringo Starr in a four-film “cinematic event.”
Image by Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Paul Mescal is slated to star as Paul McCartney, while Barry Keoghan will play Ringo Starr in a four-film “cinematic event.”
Harris Dickinson, who recently starred alongside Nicole Kidman in Babygirl, will join Gladiator II star Paul Mescal and Saltburn actor Barry Keoghan in the four-part biopic as John Lennon. Joseph Quinn, from Marvel’s Fantastic Four, rounds out the Fab Four as George Harrison.
Sony Pictures announced that the four films will be directed by Sam Mendes, the Oscar-winning British filmmaker behind American Beauty, and the James Bond films Skyfall and Spectre. They are set to hit theaters in April 2028.
The Beatles - A Four-Film Cinematic Event, directed by Sam Mendes.
undefined Sony Pictures (@SonyPictures) April 1, 2025
Harris Dickinson (John Lennon)
Paul Mescal (Paul McCartney)
Barry Keoghan (Ringo Starr)
Joseph Quinn (George Harrison)
In theatres April 2028. #TheBeatlesFourFilmCinematicEvent pic.twitter.com/mREL0nPcfC
The studio’s social media posts late last night went live on April 1st in some time zones, including the UK, leading many fans to believe – and in some cases hope – the announcement was an April Fools’ joke.
“In what world do you think that group looks like the Beatles? Great talent, bad casting,” one user replied to Sony’s post on X, a microblogging platform.
Some commenters joked about the “Marvelization” of the Beatles, poking fun at the biopic’s four-part structure. “I’m ready for the BCU,” one X user wrote, referring to a potential “Beatles Cinematic Universe,” while another asked, “When do the Beatles merge with the MCU?”
wait… is it 1st April fools?
undefined theus passos (@passostheman) April 1, 2025
Some were more critical than that, with comments like, “We reached peak useless media,” and, “This is going to be miserable.”
Others questioned the choice of the cast and its resemblance to the actual Beatles members. “The way none of them look like the people they are playing… These are just four mid-white guys trying to play four mid-white guys,” one commenter argued.
“Great casting – the most annoying young actors around to play the most annoying men in history,” said another.
However, there are plenty of positive reactions as well, with some fans saying the casting “nailed it” and declaring they’re “already in line for tickets.”
Others pointed out that critics questioning the perceived lack of physical resemblance between the cast and the Beatles members “are seriously doubting the power of hair and makeup.”
Some even shared edited images of the actors’ faces superimposed onto vintage Beatles photos, showing a closer resemblance to the band members they’re set to portray – a reminder that acting is an art, not a look-alike contest.
what if… pic.twitter.com/BwVMN5whit
undefined sherwin williams (@iammrsherwin) April 1, 2025
“Bingeable theatrical experience”
The project marks the first time McCartney, Starr, and the families of Lennon and Harrison have granted full life story and music rights for a scripted film.
Mendes announced the film at the CinemaCon convention in Las Vegas on March 31st, where he was joined on stage by the four cast members. Speaking at the event, the director said the films would be the “first binge-able theatrical experience.”
He said the four films would be released close to each other and would each focus on a different member of the group, with stories “sometimes overlapping, sometimes not.” The experience would offer a chance to understand them a “little more deeply.”
The Beatles, formed in Liverpool, England, in 1960, went on to become the world’s best-selling music act and are considered among the most influential bands of all time.