Sony Pictures and Apple Corps Ltd. will be teaming with filmmaker Sam Mendes on the production of four movies, each about the life of each of the Beatles. A link to the Deadline.com article by Mike Fleming Jr is here.
Mendes will direct all four of the films, and this marks the first time Apple Corps Ltd. and The Beatles – Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and the families of John Lennon and George Harrison – have granted full life story and music rights for a scripted film.
Mendes conceived this grand vision. He'll tell interconnected stories, one from each band member's point of view.
This sounds like a fascinating and ambitious project. It's hard to think of a story more important to the global culture than the story of the Beatles, individually and collectively.
All of this came about when Mendes pitched the project in Hollywood, and just about everyone flipped their mop-tops for it. SPE's Tom Rothman and Elizabeth Gabler, who gravitate to the most ambitious and prestige stuff, sparked to the opportunity and won the package.
"We went out to L.A. just before Christmas to pitch the project, and it's fair to say we were met with universal enthusiasm," Mendes told Deadline. "The reason Sony stood out from competing offers was down to Tom and Elizabeth's passion for the idea, and commitment to propelling these films theatrically in an innovative and exciting way."
Mendes will not only direct the films, he will produce them with Pippa Harris and Julie Pastor. Jeff Jones will be executive producer for Apple Corps Ltd.
