Beatles News
Paul Mescal, Barry Keoghan, Joseph Quinn and Harris Dickinson have given Beatles fans a tantalising first glimpse at their upcoming four-part Beatles anthology in the first images of themselves in character.
The actors are currently working with director Sir Sam Mendes on four ambitious new films about the pioneering group's emergence from Liverpool's vibrant club scene to become the most influential band on the planet.
While controversy has raged about the principal cast's suitability - Mescal will play Paul McCartney, with Dickinson starring as the late John Lennon, Quinn as George Harrison and Keoghan as Ringo Starr - first images of them in character suggest the films are in safe hands.
The Liverpool Institute For Performing Arts (LIPA) - co-founded by McCartney in 1996 - has shared postcards of the actors on set, giving fans an opportunity to judge for themselves. A first image captures Mescal as a young McCartney, the unmistakable brick walls of Liverpool's legendary Cavern Club visible as he gazes quizzically off-camera.
The band made a name for themselves as the underground club's resident band in the early 1960s, and it was here that the late Brian Epstein was encouraged to become their manager after watching them live for the first time, a decision that would change their lives forever.
Paul Mescal is seen for the first time as Paul McCartney in a tantalising glimpse at the upcoming four-part Beatles anthology, which is scheduled for release in 2028
A first glimpse of Keoghan as drummer Ringo Starr finds him wearing a black and white spotted shirt and a psychedelic tie with a pair of headphones around his neck as he works in the studio
While his hair was styled the same as Ringo's signature 'moptop', the actor also bore a striking facial resemblance to the drummer.
Elsewhere, Quinn appears to be shot as a bearded Harrison towards the end of the band's career, while Dickinson wears the iconic denim jacket and round spectacles favoured by Lennon in 1968.
LIPA captioned the Instagram post: 'We’ve been given exclusive postcards promoting the new Beatles movies! We’ve hidden them around LIPA, and we want students to find them.'
Last year, Sony finally confirmed the cast for its four highly anticipated Beatles films following months of speculation, with all four projects set for release in April 2028.
White Lotus star Aimee Lou Wood will play Harrison’s wife Pattie Boyd, while Irish Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan has been cast as Linda McCartney, the muse to many of McCartney's songs.
Source: dailymail.co.uk/Jada Bas, Jason Chester
The “Saltburn” actor, 33, showed off his new Ringo Starr-inspired hairdo in preparation to play the Beatles drummer in the upcoming Sam Mendes-directed biopic.
Keoghan stepped out Wednesday at the London premiere of his new film “Crime 101” with a long mop-top hairstyle resembling Starr’s look from the early days of the Beatles. Barry Keoghan shows off his new hairstyle at the "Crime 101" UK screening.
Ringo Starr at a press conference in London Airport. He is playing Ringo Starr (pictured in 1964) in his upcoming movie.
The Irish actor, who usually sports much shorter brunette locks, wore a leather racing jacket with matching pants and a green and white face-covering scarf, all from the brand Mains.
Mendes’ “The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event” will feature four movies, each one centering on a different member of the beloved British rock band, all set to be released in April 2028. Keoghan will play Starr, Harris Dickinson will play John Lennon, Paul Mescal will play Paul McCartney and Joseph Quinn will play George Harrison.
Other confirmed cast members include Saoirse Ronan as Linda McCartney, Anna Sawai as Yoko Ono, Harry Lloyd as George Martin and James Norton as Brian Epstein.
“We’re not just making one film about the Beatles — we’re making four,” Mendes, 60, confirmed at CinemaCon in March 2025. “Perhaps this is a chance to understand them a little more deeply.”
“There had to be a way to tell the epic story for a new generation,” the filmmaker explained. “I can assure you there is still plenty left to explore, and I think we found a way to do that.”
Starr, 85, previously gave his stamp of approval when Keoghan’s casting was still a rumor. “I think it’s great,” the beloved musician told “Entertainment Tonight” in Dec. 2024. “I believe he’s somewhere taking drum lessons. I hope not too many!”
Source: Eric Todisco/pagesix.com
A new documentary that analyzes Paul McCartney’s post-Beatles prime and The Wings’ 1970s rise has received a one-night-only cinematic release. Paul McCartney: Man on the Run will screen in select theaters worldwide on Thursday, February 19, 2026.
The impending cinematic experience opens in April 1970, in the wake of The Beatles’ dissolution, which stemmed from McCartney’s drive to focus on his solo career and subsequent self-titled album. True to the timeline, the movie tracks the life-changing decade-long tenure that followed and led to the creation of his new band, The Wings.
Pieced together from archival footage and Linda McCartney’s preferred medium of photography, the film also lingers on a series of interviews with Paul, Linda, and their daughters, Mary and Stella McCartney. Original members of the Wings, and folks associated with the scene and family: Sean Ono Lennon, Mick Jagger, Chrissie Hynde, and more, also lend their perspectives and memories.
The cinematic release of Paul McCartney: Man on the Run will occur in select regions worldwide. According to the press release, “In addition to the film, each theatrical screening includes a bonus conversation between Paul McCartney and director Morgan Neville, exclusive to cinemas.”
All theaters taking part in the screening and ticket listings can be found at manontherun.film from February 4th at 2 pm GMT / 9 am ET / 6 am PT.
Source: Hana Gustafson/relix.com
The Royal Albert Hall, Madison Square Garden, Sydney Opera House, Red Rocks amphitheatre in Colorado, Carnegie Hall, Élysée Montmartre, the Hollywood Bowl.
Throughout the world, these venues are prized by music lovers as places where music moments came to life – and in some cases became legend. But there's one particular music venue in Liverpool that quite literally birthed a legendary force in music: the Cavern Club.
Of course, it goes without saying that most of us know it was The Beatles that found their footing at this local Liverpool venue in their formative years.
The Beatles' best albums, ranked: When Ringo Starr nearly reunited The Beatles for his 1973 debut solo album. The song George Harrison wrote on the day he quit The Beatles. The Beatles biopics: Cast, director, release date and songs for the four upcoming movies.
A jazz club in its original iteration, the Cavern Club became the centre of all things Merseybeat before The Beatles burst onto the scene.
It's the venue's history with John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr (and Pete Best, in fairness), which has made it globally renowned.
So it was music to people's ears when Paul McCartney revealed he was returning to play the Cavern Club for a one-off show in 1999.
It was 36 years after The Beatles performed their for the very last time. The Beatles' final ever show at the Cavern Club unfolded on August 3, 1963, shortly before Beatlemania gripped the world. So naturally, after Macca announced his return to the venue during a televised interview with Michael Parkinson on December 3, it caused bedlam.
"I am going back for just one night as a nod to the music that has always and will ever thrill me," he revealed. "I can’t think of a better way to rock out the end of the century than with a rock ‘n’ roll party at the Cavern."
The gig took place eleven days after the announcement that he'd be returning to where the Fab Four learned their trade. The biggest issue for fans of his and The Beatles however, was that there were only 300 tickets available.
McCartney was promoting his 1999 album Run Devil Run, which was ultimately a covers album of golden oldies.
But because the album largely featured songs that he, John, George and Ringo would have been listening to in those days, his management suggesting going back to Cavern. At first, Macca had reservations about returning. Firstly, the venue had been updated and was now only 50% on the original site.
It meant that the stage was the other side of the venue, which provided a few more logistical problems. McCartney and his team knew that if any other venue hosted the gig, it'd just be like any other show. But if he returned to the Cavern Club, it'd be an explosive news story that the world would pay close attention too. They were right. Paul McCartney was finally back in the Cavern Club.
Demand for tickets went through the roof as expected, with fans having to grab any that were raffled through local HMV stores.
Ultimately it was a lottery for anybody trying to secure a coveted ticket – it was said that over a million people recorded an interest in buying one.
Fans were on the phone day and night trying to get tickets, whilst anybody that worked somewhere vaguely associated with The Beatles (Apple, EMI, Abbey Road Studios etc) wanted in.
There was truly worldwide demand to get into the Cavern Club to see Paul McCartney up close and personal.
Tickets were extraordinarily rare. But because the gig was recorded, thousands of fans congregated to watch it in Liverpool's Chevasse Park on an outdoor screen, whilst three million people were able to watch it on the internet and BBC Radio 2 broadcast it later in the evening.
Source: Thomas Edward/goldradio.com
On This Day, Jan. 27, 1970…
John Lennon wrote and recorded the single “Instant Karma” in one day, at one point telling reporters he “wrote it for breakfast, recorded it for lunch, and we’re putting it out for dinner.”
The song, produced by Phil Spector, featured his Beatles bandmate George Harrison on acoustic guitar and piano, with Lennon’s wife Yoko Ono and Billy Preston contributing background vocals.
The inspiration for the tune came to Lennon during a visit he and Yoko took to Denmark, where they met up with Yoko’s former husband Tony Cox. Cox’s then wife Melinda Kendell used the term in conversation.
“Instant Karma,” Lennon’s third solo single, wound up being a hit for the rocker, peaking at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Source: lakesmedianetwork.com
The Beatles were hitmakers of the highest order, but they weren’t without their weird moments either. Mixed in with their pop-friendly offerings were off-kilter masterpieces. Revisit three Beatles songs below that feel as if they came from another planet.
“A Day in the Life” is innovative, even by today’s standards. The disjointed track mashes up two different ideas from Paul McCartney and John Lennon into one masterpiece.
This song feels impossibly complex. For mere mortals, it’s hard to come up with any idea of how these two came up with this Frankenstein track. Even more uneasiness is added to the song by an orchestra conducted by McCartney.
“That was too puzzling for them, and orchestras don’t like that kind of thing,” McCartney said of his less-than-traditional conducting methods. “They like it written down, and they like to know exactly what they’re supposed to do…so that’s why it sounds like a chaotic sort of swirl. That was an idea based on the avant-garde stuff I was into at the time.”
“I Am the Walrus” is an oddball song to say the least. There’s nothing that really grounds this Beatles hit in reality. And that’s by design.
By the time this song was released, the Beatles were being analyzed worldwide for their songwriting techniques. Lennon wanted to throw people off their scent with this song, purposefully making it confusing as all get out. Because it’s so strange, it feels like it must come from some far-off galaxy where the line I am the eggman, they are the eggmen / I am the walrus, goo-goo g’joob makes sense.
“Strawberry Fields Forever” epitomizes the Beatles’ psychedelic era. Few songs better highlight the rock movement’s otherworldly style and intrigue. Listening to this song can feel like a kaleidoscopic trip from another planet.
Let me take you down / ‘Cause I’m going to strawberry fields / Nothing is real / And nothing to get hung about / Strawberry fields forever, the iconic chorus reads. It’s impossible not to feel a little disoriented while listening to this Beatles fan favorite.
Source: Alex Hopper/americansongwriter.com
George Harrison wrote an unreleased song, “Hey Ringo,” discovered by his widow in 2017. Olivia Harrison gifted the lyrics to Ringo Starr; he was surprised at their existence. The song expresses mutual admiration between Harrison and Starr as bandmates.
The Beatles took the ’60s by storm, leaving an incomparable and lasting legacy in their wake.
As the remaining members continue to share their love for music, for peace—and, well, for love—with the world, we are reminded of the importance and power of sound. George Harrison was a masterful guitarist, lyricist, and friend.
Born on February 25, 1943, the Liverpool native joined forces with John Lennon and Paul McCartney when they were all still teenagers. By the time Harrison was 20, Ringo Starr was their drummer and Beatlemania was in full swing.
Harrison tragically passed away from lung cancer in November 2001, aged 58. He was survived by his second wife, Olivia Harrison, now 77, and their son, Dhani Harrison, now 47.
In 2017, Olivia revealed that she found a previously unheard song of Harrison’s, entitled “Hey Ringo.”
“There was a folder in George’s piano bench and inside I found a typed lyric for ‘Hey, Ringo.’ I think it dates from around 1970,” she said, according to NME. She then gifted the lyrics to Starr himself at a party celebrating Harrison.
“He’d never seen this song before,” she noted. “He said ‘What is this?’ He was so surprised.”
In a post shared to Instagram by Far Out Magazine, the handwritten lyrics are shared beside a copy of the typed ones.
“Wow! A beautiful sentiment,” wrote one commenter. Another added: “That’s so cute, I can imagine their duet.”
The lyrics to “Hey Ringo” by George Harrison:
Hey Ringo now I want you to know
That without you my guitar plays far too slow
And Ringo let me say this to you
I’ve heard no drummer who can play it quite like you /
Wait a minute Mr G.
Stop flattering me
My drums sound bare
When your guitar’s not there /
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey
Let me hear you playing /
Hey Ringo there’s one thing that I’ve not said
I’ll play my guitar with you till I drop dead /
Well, G. it’s really nice the things you say
But when you drop, please fall the other way
Sam Mendes's upcoming project, The Beatles: A Four-Film Cinematic Event is truly a beast the likes of which cinema has never seen before. In April 2028, four new biopics – each one focussing on a different Beatle – will release on the same day, giving fans the opportunity to binge them all in the cinema at once.
Mendes is directing all four movies, while three different writers are confirmed to be attached to the project – Jez Butterworth, Peter Straughan, and Jack Thorne.
Butterworth is a celebrated Olivier-award-winning playwright and screenwriter who worked with Mendes previously on Spectre. Straughan is fresh from a trio of wins (BAFTA, Golden Globe, and Oscar) for his screenplay for Conclave, and Thorne (Adolescence) is a prolific writer who has collaborated with Mendes in the theatre, when the latter directed his play The Motive and the Cue.
With a wealth of talent behind the scenes (including rewrites at the request of real-life Beatles), it's no surprise that fans are already itching to find out more about the project, despite the movies not coming out for another two years.
It has been confirmed already that all four Beatles will appear in all four films, and that much of the cast will be featuring across the entire quartet.
The list of confirmed actors so far is as follows. Scroll down for more information about the stars.
Harris Dickinson as John Lennon
Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney
Joseph Quinn as George Harrison
Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr
Saoirse Ronan as Linda McCartney
James Norton as Brian Epstein
Mia McKenna-Bruce as Maureen Starkey
Anna Sawai as Yoko Ono
Aimee Lou Wood as Pattie Boyd
Harry Lloyd as George Martin
David Morrissey as Jim McCartney
Leanne Best as Mimi Smith
Bobby Schofield as Neil Aspinall
Daniel Hoffmann-Gill as Mal Evans
Arthur Darvill as Derek Taylor
Adam Pally as Allen Klein
Harris Dickinson plays John Lennon
Source: Alex Hewitt/radiotimes.com
The Beatles were already reaching breaking point when they were working on The White Album; countless fights, arguments, and walkouts almost became a typical day in the studio with the Fab Four, with some songs heading to the trash can rather than the album. One of the songs was a song that George Harrison wrote, which was “Not Guilty,” even after over 100 takes.
"Not Guilty" Was Inspired by the Beatles' Trip to India. George Harrison brought this iconic song to a Beatles rehearsal and it was rejected.
The trip was partially to do with Harrison associating the band with Indian instrumentation and the teachings of the Maharishi. However, The Beatles quickly denounced the Maharishi after rumors began to spread about alleged inappropriate advances to female students. While Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr were not as interested in the Maharishi, Lennon would write “Sexy Sadie” to hit out at the Maharishi after the rumors spread. Why Was "Not Guilty" Rejected?
The Beatles are considered the greatest band for many reasons, with one of them being due to having extremely high standards in their music. Even after 102 takes, the band, including Harrison, was not 100% happy with “Not Guilty,” but that was not why it was rejected. The recording executives chose to leave it off the album, to Harrison’s dismay, due to its lyrical content, as it revealed his growing tensions and frustrations with McCartney and Lennon. Not wanting to expose the band’s ongoing tension and strife, it was ultimately decided that “Not Guilty” would be excluded. However, to Lennon’s delight, “Sexy Sadie” made its way onto the tracklist.
Despite using 102 takes, only 20 of these takes were completed. A great amount of the takes were time spent perfecting and learning the song. However, with 102 takes of learning and recording “Not Guilty,” a song that expressed Harrison’s frustrations with McCartney and Lennon, the other members became less interested in recording the song. Sadly, 102 takes would end up being meaningless.
Surrounded by press, The Beatles wave at fans as they arrive in New York City in 1964.
Source: Teguan Harris/collider.com
Among their many other recommending characteristics, The Beatles could bring about a joyous feeling in their listeners as well as anyone. It’s difficult to listen to them for too long without a smile creeping up on your face.
Certain songs in their catalog elicit wider grins than others, of course. This quartet of tracks stands out from the pack for the happiness quotient each of the songs delivers. “I Saw Her Standing There”
It’s difficult to pick just one song from The Beatles first year of recording for this list. There are so many tracks from that time period that deliver the goods in the joy department. We’re going with “I Saw Her Standing There” for several reasons. The music rushes along at a heightened speed without stopping for too long to contemplate. Meanwhile, the story is aspirational and satisfying. Although it’s unspoken, the narrator seems to be punching above his weight class as he prepares to woo the girl of his dreams across the dance floor. Yet there they are at song’s end, living happily ever after. And let’s not count out the power of the “whoo” shouts that punctuate each verse.
“I Feel Fine”
Conflicting recollections of the participants involved make it impossible to know if the feedback the band created at the beginning of “I Feel Fine” was a happy accident or a calculated plan. In any case, it’s a thrilling start to a song that just keeps raising the ebullience stakes from there. There’s a little bit of Motown in his track, both in terms of the chugging rhythm and the interweaving backing vocals. Unlike “I Saw Her Standing There”, the narrator here already has the love of his favorite girl in his pocket when the song begins. And the knowledge of how she feels about him is so powerfully joy-inducing that he has no choice but to share it with “all the world.” That phrase is a good estimation for the Fab Four’s listening audience circa 1964.
“Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da”
Source: Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com
