#John #Paul #George #Ringo #biopic
APThe Beatles in 1964 upon arrival in the US
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 17:18
Director and Oscar winner Sam Mendes is working on a special project in the coming years: he will film the lives of all four members of The Beatles, each in a separate biopic.
The two surviving Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, and the surviving relatives of John Lennon and George Harrison, have agreed to it, while they are normally reluctant to release their rights. The record company of the ‘Fab Four’, Apple Corps Ltd., also agrees.
The plan comes from Mendes himself. He is known for, among other things American Beauty (1999) and the James Bond films Heavy rain (2012) in Spectre (2015) and wants to complete the quartet of Beatles films by 2027.
Each film will tell the story of the rise and demise of The Beatles from the perspective of one of the band members. The idea is that the films will be shown in cinemas simultaneously.
New roads
The Beatles were formed in Liverpool in the early 1960s by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and, after several years of struggle, made progress from their first album Please Please Me (1963) huge successes in Europe and the US.
They didn’t even last that long – they stopped performing in 1966 and in 1970 the four broke up with quite a lot of commotion. But since then, their music has remained popular and new generations continue to listen to it.
That music was initially quite traditional and became increasingly experimental. With records like Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band (1967) in The White Album (1968), The Beatles broke new ground.
Big business
They also starred in feature films, such as A Hard Day’s Night (1964) in Help! (1965). In the animated film Yellow Submarine (1968) they appeared as characters. Since they broke up, several film adaptations of their story have been made, such as The Birth of The Beatles (1979) in Nowhere Boy (2009), about the life of John Lennon.
But Mendes’ project is more ambitious and far-reaching. Biopics have become big business in recent years. Being successful examples Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), over Queen-zanger Freddy Mercury, Rocketman (2019) over Elton John one Elvis (2022), the story about the complicated relationship between singer Elvis Presley and his originally Dutch manager Colonel Tom Parker.
King of Pop
Currently running Bob Marley: One Love about reggae legend Bob Marley in Dutch cinemas. There is also a biopic in preparation about the best-selling artist of all time, King of Pop Michael Jackson.
Numerous documentaries have already been made about The Beatles. Ron Howards are well known The Beatles: Eight Days a Week The Touring Years and The Beatles: Get Back by Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, about the making of Let it Be from 1970, the last album of the foursome.
