Back in February, we brought you the very exciting news that Sam Mendes has not one but fourBeatles biopics in the works, with each intersecting movie set to hit cinemas in 2027. And while that may still seem quite some time away, the long and winding road to Mendes’ Fab Four pictures may have just found its first stop — and its first Beatle. In an Entertainment Tonight interview conducted after earning a glut of Grammy nominations, The Beatles’ iconic drummer Ringo Starr heavily implied/all but outright said that Bird star Barry Keoghan is set to pick up his drumsticks in Mendes’ upcoming films.
When asked his thoughts on the prospect of Irish actor Keoghan playing him on-screen, Starr coyly replied, “I think it’s great. I believe he’s somewhere taking drum lessons, and I hope not too many.” Though this is far from an official casting confirmation at this point, that Starr himself has stamped Keoghan’s proverbial ticket to ride is a promising sign for the Saltburn lead, who famously flexed his Scouse accent (among other things) as Oliver Quick in Emerald Fennell’s thriller. And if this Keoghan casting does pan out, then that may lend new credence to rumours swirling that the rest of the band will comprise Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, and Joseph Quinn as George Harrison, especially given how those same rumours first put Keoghan’s name in the mix.
Mendes’ movies will mark the first time Apple Corps Ltd. and the Beatles — both surviving members and the families of George Harrison and John Lennon — have given full life story and music rights to a scripted project about the band. We don’t have any final release date or concrete casting confirmations just yet (the possibilities remain here, there, and everywhere for now), and we can only guess how the four films Mendes is working on will eventually come together, but with some exciting names circling the project and the prospect of a set of four fully authorised features about the biggest band of all time ahead of us, you’ll have to get back when we come racing through for our tickets on opening night(s). Now it’s over to Sam — don’t let us down!