Without a doubt, one of the most ambitious film projects currently in production is Sam Mendes’ The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event. The astonishing feat of filmmaking finds Mendes directing four separate feature films, with each one focusing on a different member of the legendary rock band. This morning, the Twitter account called Joseph Quinn HQ posted a behind-the-scenes video of the Beatles cast recreating the iconic Abbey Road album cover for the upcoming biopics.
The upcoming film collection stars Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison, and Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr. Other cast members include Saoirse Ronan as Linda McCartney, James Norton as Brian Epstein, David Morrissey as Jim McCartney, Anna Sawai as Yoko Ono, and more.
To make the movies feel like the genuine article, The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event marks the first time Apple Corps Ltd., Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and the estates of John Lennon and George Harrison have granted full life-story and music-catalog rights for a scripted narrative feature film project.
On August 8, 1969, The Beatles walked across the street outside EMI Studios on Abbey Road in London. The iconic photo became the cover of the band’s 11th studio album, Abbey Road. Freelance photographer Iain Macmillan took the famous shot in roughly 10 minutes. Only six photos were taken of the band that morning, with the fifth being used for the album cover.
The Abbey Road album cover sparked the “Paul is Dead” urban legend, thanks to McCartney being barefoot while crossing the street. While those in the know say Paul chose to go barefoot because of the heat, many claimed he had died in 1966 and was replaced by a lookalike. Believers in the outlandish theory say the Beatles walking in succession represented a funeral procession: John in white (the preacher), Ringo in black (the mourner), Paul barefoot and out of step (the corpse), and George in denim (the gravedigger). Good grief!
Are you looking forward to Sam Mendes’ Beatles biopics? Which of the four movies are you the most excited about? Let us know in the comments section below.