Sam Mendes’ Beatles Films Land Heavyweight Writers— including Jez Butterworth, Peter Straughan, and Jack Thorne
A Neal Street production in association with Apple Corps for Sony Pictures
A four-film cinematic event gets major literary firepower as the Oscar, BAFTA, and Tony-winning trio join Sony and Apple Corps’ historic Beatles project
Sam Mendes’ ambitious Beatles saga—four interconnected theatrical films chronicling the lives of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr—has added some of the U.K.’s most formidable screenwriters to its creative team. Jez Butterworth, Peter Straughan, and Jack Thorne are officially set to pen the scripts, Variety reports.
This marks a groundbreaking moment in film history: The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event will be the first time Apple Corps Ltd. and the band members’ estates have granted full music and life rights for a scripted film project. Each movie will center on a single band member’s point of view, with narratives designed to intersect and form a panoramic account of the Fab Four’s journey.
The Writers
Jez Butterworth, Peter Straughan and Jack Thorne Matt Frost / Getty / Antonio Olmos
Jez Butterworth, known for his high-octane, genre-spanning screenplays such as Ford v Ferrari, Edge of Tomorrow, and Spectre, also has deep ties to Mendes via their collaborations on stage—including The Ferryman and The Hills of California, the latter recently earning seven Tony nominations.
Peter Straughan, who just won an Oscar for his work on Conclave, is acclaimed for his cerebral, layered adaptations such as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Wolf Hall. His literary sensibility is poised to give George Harrison or Ringo Starr’s perspective the melancholic introspection they deserve.
Jack Thorne, a prolific and emotionally incisive screenwriter, rounds out the trio. With credits spanning The Swimmers, Enola Holmes, His Dark Materials, and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Thorne brings a contemporary edge that could shape Lennon or McCartney’s chapters with a modern, myth-breaking sensibility.
The Cast and Release Plan
The project’s stellar young cast includes:
Harris Dickinson as John Lennon
Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr
Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney
Joseph Quinn as George Harrison
POPULAR ON THE CINEMA GROUP
The films are being produced by Mendes’ Neal Street Productions, in association with Apple Corps and Sony Pictures, which will finance and distribute the films globally. The studio has committed to full theatrical releases, beginning in April 2028.
Mendes will direct all four films, with producing partners Pippa Harris, Julie Pastor, and Alexandra Derbyshire (Wonka) on board. According to Sony, this interconnected series aims to reshape the biopic format as we know it.
While plot specifics remain under wraps, the formal structure—four separate but intersecting films—suggests an experimental yet intimate take on The Beatles’ trajectory, one grounded in both personal narrative and cultural transformation.
