The Four-Part Beatles Biopic Is One Of The Biggest, Riskiest, Coolest Gambles In Recent Movie History

CinemaCon is happening as we speak in Las Vegas, and Sony Pictures had the honor of helping to kick off this year's annual gathering of Hollywood studios and theater owners. They did so by making a very big, splashy announcement: Oscar-winner Sam Mendes has now been confirmed to be tackling biopics (yes, plural) about the biggest band in the history of bands, The Beatles. Dubbed "The Beatles — A Four-Film Cinematic Event," the studio will release four movies, one centered on each member of the band, all of which will arrive in April 2028.

To say that this is a unique strategy would be a dramatic understatement. One could call it lunacy, while another could call it brilliant. They are probably both right. Mendes and Sony have assembled quite the cast for "The Beatles" movies, with Paul Mescal ("Gladiator II") as Paul McCartney, Barry Keoghan ("Eternals") as Ringo Starr, Joseph Quinn ("Stranger Things") as George Harrison, and Harris Dickinson ("The Iron Claw") as John Lennon.

The brief logline for the films reads, "Each man has his own story, but together they are legendary." Sony is also billing this as the "first binge-able theatrical experience," per Variety. Staying at home to binge a season of "Stranger Things" is one thing. But for many people, going to the theater four times within the span of a month — if not a single weekend — is another prospect altogether. For the time being, it hasn't been officially confirmed whether all four films will release on the same day, or if they will be spread out over several weeks. Either way, they're all coming out in April 2028, and this is uncharted territory. 

Clearly, Sony is trying to recreate the Barbenheimer (or, to a lesser degree, Glicked) phenomenon. They want what the world experienced with "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" on that fateful weekend, but with the biggest, most important band in the history of bands. The question is, can they actually pull it off?

Given the 2028 release, we're going to have to wait a few years to get a firm answer to that question. What we can say definitively is that it's going to take a lot to pull this off. We know where the goalposts are, and why Sony thinks this can work. To go over the resume of The Beatles would feel excessive here, but for decades, their music has persisted in the broader cultural landscape. There is very clearly an audience for this movie, with Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr all musical icons in their own right.

From a financial standpoint, the high watermark is the Queen biopic "Bohemian Rhapsody," which pulled in an astounding $910 million worldwide. Nobody is expecting four movies released at the same time to each make that kind of money, particularly in the aftermath of the pandemic, but could "Elvis" ($288 million worldwide) numbers be on the table, on average, for these movies? It's certainly conceivable.

Let's also not forget that Mendes can be a very commercial director. Aside from the Best Picture winner "American Beauty," he also directed "Skyfall," which made more than $1 billion and remains the biggest "James Bond" movie ever. That, coupled with generationally beloved music, a great cast, and a pretty wild hook means this absolutely insane experiment could, at least in theory, pay off.

If Sony can somehow keep the costs somewhat under control and effectively sell this as an event to moviegoing masses around the world, the studio could look brilliant come May 2028. If they let the costs explode to, say, more than $100 million on average for each one of the movies, plus a gargantuan marketing spend? The prospects are far less clear and the gamble could come out closer to crazy than genius.

Right now, we have far more questions than answers. How is this all going to work? Will you need to see all four movies for the others to fully make sense? Is this going to feel like Sony is trying to get you to pay for four tickets to get one experience? Will the movies actually be good? Will people want to see a Ringo Starr movie, or will they just want to see the John Lennon one? Can theaters actually make this work if all four movies are released on the same weekend?

What we can say with certainty is that this is a bold choice, and one of the riskiest, coolest gambles we've seen a studio take in some time. Hollywood has had this odd obsession with "part one" movies in recent years, and the movie business loves franchises. But those things don't always work out, or the wait for the follow-up is exceedingly long. Sometimes the wait only creates more anticipation. Sometimes the excitement dies down and the whole enterprise fizzles out.

What Sony is doing with these Beatles movies is unprecedented and wild. At a time when theaters are still trying desperately to recover from the pandemic that forever altered the business five years ago, innovation feels more necessary than ever. The bar to get someone to leave the house is higher than it's ever been. Doing the same old thing just isn't going to work. Is this risky? Oh my God, absolutely. Is it a risk worth taking? It's easy to say since it's not my money, but as someone who wants to see the theatrical experience not just survive, but thrive in the future, I say hell yeah. Roll those dice, Sony. Take your big swing.

We spoke more about this on today's episode of the /Film Daily podcast:

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Look for "The Beatles — A Four-Film Cinematic Event" in theaters in April 2028.