The Beatles to Get Shared Universe of Movies From James Bond Director Sam Mendes

Mendes, who also directed American Beauty and Road to Perdition, will tell an interconnected story from each band member's perspective.

By Russ Burlingame

Sony Pictures Entertainment, Neal Street Pictures, and Apple Corps. Limited are teaming up with filmmaker Sam Mendes to make a series of four feature films about The Beatles. Each member of the band will be featured in his own biopic, with the stories weaving in and out of each other. The project marks the first time that Apple -- who handles the Beatles' rights -- has ever granted life story and music rights for a scripted feature film, let alone an entire series. Mendes will direct all four movies, one from the perspective of each Beatle.

The four interconnected movies has the feeling of a "shared universe" a la the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but don't expect Sony to lean too hard into that terminology. After all, their latest stab at a shared Spider-Man universe just flopped at the box office -- beat out, ironically, by a music biopic.

"I'm honored to be telling the story of the greatest rock band of all time, and excited to challenge the notion of what constitutes a trip to the movies," said Sam Mendes in a statement.

Apple Corps controls the music rights, but that is of course only part of the puzzle; Sony and Mendes had to get Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and the families of John Lennon and George Harrison on board to make the series a reality.

Sony Pictures Entertainment will finance and distribute the films worldwide, with full theatrical windows in 2027. Exact release dates aren't available yet, but according to a statement from SPE, "the dating cadence of the films, the details of which will be shared closer to release, will be innovative and groundbreaking." It sounds, at least at face value, like they're trying to dial the back-to-back filming and release of something like The Lord of the Rings up to 11, so don't be too surprised if they only come out a few months apart or something crazy like that.

In addition to directing, Mendes will produce the (fab) four movies alongside his Neal Street Productions partner Pippa Harris and Neal Street's Julie Pastor. Jeff Jones will executive produce for Apple Corps Ltd.

"We intend this to be a uniquely thrilling, and epic cinematic experience: four films, told from four different perspectives which tell a single story about the most celebrated band of all time," said Pippa Harris. "To have The Beatles' and Apple Corps' blessing to do this is an immense privilege. From our first meeting with Tom Rothman and Elizabeth Gabler, it was clear that they shared both our passion and ambition for this project, and we can't think of a more perfect home than Sony Pictures."

"Apple Corps is delighted to collaborate with Sam, Pippa and Julie to explore each Beatle's unique story and to bring them together in a suitably captivating and innovative way," said Apple Corps Ltd. CEO Jeff Jones. "Sony Pictures' enthusiastic support, championing the project's scope and creative vision from the start, has been invaluable for all of us."

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"I know I speak for our CEO Tony Vinciquerra, who was instrumental in making this happen, and every Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group colleague around the world when I say: 'yeah, yeah, yeah!'" said Tom Rothman, Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures' Motion Picture Group. "Theatrical movie events today must be culturally seismic. 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. We are deeply grateful to all parties and look forward ourselves to breaking some rules with Sam's uniquely artistic vision."

Mendes was an English stage director for years before breaking into the pop culture mainstream with American Beauty. From Six Feet Under writer Alan Ball, the movie centered on a deeply dysfunctional upper-middle-class family and cleaned up at the Academy Awards, winning Mendes a Best Director trophy for his debut feature. He would go on to direct Road to Perdition, based on the graphic novel by Max Allan Collins and Richard Piers Rayner, which was nominated for six Oscars and won one. It wasn't long before Mendes was moving into big genre filmmaking with Skyfall, one of the best-reviewed James Bond films ever made.

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