Another important casting announcement was recently unveiled for Sam Mendes’ four Beatles biopics. Saoirse Ronan will officially play Linda McCartney in the four-movie cinematic event, while Anna Sawai, Aimee Lou Wood, and Mia McKenna-Bruce are reportedly circling the roles of Yoko Ono, Pattie Boyd, and Maureen Starkey, respectively.
Mendes’ Beatles films will be released simultaneously in April 2028, with each movie detailing the Beatles’ story from a different band member’s perspective. This will be a very interesting step forward for the biopic genre, and it crucially means that certain characters will appear multiple times across the movies – so it’s even more important that they’re accurately cast.
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Cynthia Lennon
Yoko Ono may be the one whom John Lennon ended up with, but Cynthia Powell (later Lennon) played just an important role early on in his career. The pair fell in love and had a child when Lennon was just 22 years old, but their relationship was a very turbulent one that ultimately crumbled under the pressure of stardom.
Depending on which era of the Beatles’ career these movies take place throughout, Cynthia Lennon will need to be present to some degree. Even if Sam Mendes decides to set his stories after John and Cynthia’s breakup, there’s no way to write her out of the story entirely without undermining a huge portion of Lennon’s background.
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Brian Epstein
Brian Epstein was widely considered to be the fifth member of the Beatles during their early years, even though he never sang or played an instrument. Epstein was the Beatles’ manager and close friend from 1961 until his death in 1967. He was particularly close with John Lennon, and this friendship was a major point of discourse among the band.
Epstein was with the Beatles long before they were the “Fab Four”, and his death had an immeasurable impact on their dynamic towards the end of the ’60s. There would never have been “The Beatles” as we know them today without Epstein, so it’s inevitable that he’ll show up in Mendes’ movies in some measure.
6
Pete Best
It’s hard to imagine today, but Ringo Starr (born Richard Starkey) wasn’t always going to be a member of the Beatles. In fact, McCartney and Lennon already had a drummer when Starkey first entered their lives: Pete Best. But ultimately, the Liverpool boys decided that Best couldn’t keep up with their style, and took Starkey on board instead.
Pete Best is often erased from the story of the Beatles since he was never featured on any of their albums (and only performed with them a handful of times), but he still deserves recognition in the upcoming movies.
Even if he just appears in flashbacks or at the beginning of the films, it’s important that Mendes honors all of the Beatles, not just the four everybody knows. Ringo was only the Beatles’ replacement drummer at first, even if he went on to be much more famous and successful than Pete Best.
5
George Martin
George Martin was another crucial figure in the Beatles’ success, even if the majority of his interference happened behind the scenes. He was the Beatles’ producer from their very first album until their very last, guiding the Beatles’ career from the producing booth while the four young boys carried the band’s public reputation.
Martin is often referred to as a “father figure” to the Beatles, as he mediated countless disagreements and disputes between the four musicians throughout the years they were together. If the boys were arguing, it was probably George Martin who got them to sit down and talk it out.
This dynamic needs to be explored in Mendes’ Beatles movies — not just because of how entertaining it will be to watch, but also because of how strongly Martin’s actions contributed to the development of The Beatles. His influence over the Beatles’ discography shouldn’t be overlooked; he’s widely considered to be among the most groundbreaking music producers of all time.
4
Stuart Sutcliffe
The term “fifth Beatle” gets thrown around quite often — sometimes referring to George Martin’s subtle contributions, and sometimes referring to Pete Best’s unresolved potential. But if there’s a true fifth member of this iconic rock band, it’s Stuart Sutcliffe. He toured with the Beatles during their early days in Hamburg, and suddenly died of a brain hemorrhage in 1962.
Where Pete Best was removed from the band by mutual decision, Sutcliffe’s unexpected death was a huge tragedy that affected each of the Beatles in different ways. He was famously very close with John Lennon, and his death is often cited as the first crack in the friendship between Lennon and McCartney.
Sutcliffe’s involvement in the Beatles – and his subsequent death – need to be in any biopic about the band. Sutcliffe hasn’t been cast in the Beatles movies yet, but it’s hard to imagine that he’ll be absent altogether. The Beatles’ gigs in Hamburg were formative years for the band, and the films would suffer if they didn’t explore this period.
3
Bob Dylan
If there’s one musician who influenced the Beatles more than any other, both musically and spiritually, it’s Bob Dylan. He was one of the band’s most successful contemporaries on the other side of the Atlantic, and the five musicians would often spend time together whenever the Beatles came to America.
Dylan’s influence over the Beatles is often diluted down to him introducing them to drugs, but his musical impact was just as profound. Songs like “Norweigan Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” and “I’ve Just Seen A Face” simply wouldn’t exist without Dylan’s influence, and Sam Mendes would be doing him a disservice not to make note of this.
Interestingly, each of the Beatles had a very different relationship with (and opinion of) Bob Dylan. This makes him a valuable asset for the “four perspectives” approach that Sam Mendes is employing with these movies. The version of Bob Dylan that George Harrison knew was very different to the one McCartney knew, and this should bleed through into the films.
2
Billy Preston
As mentioned, it hasn’t yet been confirmed exactly when these four Beatles movies will take place, but it feels like a missed opportunity if the Get Back recording sessions don’t play a major role. These few weeks are widely regarded as the beginning of the end for the Beatles, as friendships shattered under the pressure of releasing more music.
If these movies do spend some considerable time during these sessions, it’s inevitable that Billy Preston will need to be written into the story. He was essentially an extra member of the Beatles during these recordings (which made up the “Let It Be” album), playing keys on several of the Band’s most popular tracks.
1
Eric Clapton
Considering how much time the Beatles spent together throughout the ’60s, it’s somewhat of a miracle that none of the musicians ever found themselves in any kind of love triangle with the others. Sadly, this wasn’t the case with George Harrison and his close friend Eric Clapton, who found themselves vying for the affections of Pattie Boyd over the decades.
Clapton’s romance with Boyd didn’t truly start until the ’70s (after the Beatles had broken up), but his friendship with George Harrison had blossomed long before that. The pair were extremely close throughout the ’60s, and many of Harrison’s greatest songs were influenced by Clapton’s unique, surreal sonic palette.
