Help! The Beatles Biopics Are Coming
Director Sam Mendes, Sony & Apple Corps setup four theatrical movies on the members of The Beatles
Who’s ready for four new Beatles movies? That’s the plan after Variety shared news of some new Biopics from Director Sam Mendes, Sony, and Apple Corps. Each movie will be from each member's perspective, leading up to their 1970 breakup. The members of the legendary rock band include Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, and George Harrison. Expect each movie to be something like Marvel Cinematic Universe but for The Beatles. Sony Pictures Entertainment plans to premiere all four movies in 2027.
I can Imagine that the John Lennon and Paul McCartney movies would be exciting to see, but I don’t think anyone is interested in a biopic that focuses on Ringo Starr (sorry Ringo). How these will connect or whether each movie will repeat iconic moments from history remains to be seen. Of course, this isn’t the first time The Beatles have been on the big screen— there are multiple feature-length movies from the Fab Four, documentaries that include Get Back, and plenty of other tributes and specials. The story of The Beatles is well-trodden; whatever actors Mendes and Sony pull together for this will make a big difference in its success.
For all my grossing over Biopics, they are still big business in Hollywood. Most of the Best Actor winners over the last decade-plus have been Biopics (it wouldn’t surprise me if Cillian Murphy follows that trend with his portrayal of J. Robert Oppenheimer). Music movies in particular have been doing great. As the Variety article mentions Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis and Paramount’s Bob Marley: One Love both exceeded expectations, never mind the dual concert releases of Taylor Swift’s The Era’s Tour and Beyonce’s Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé. Sony needs another project it can invest in after its repeated failure trying to make a Spider-Man universe of movies without Spider-Man. This might be their Ticket to Ride the wave of success.
I’ll certainly be following this project (projects?) closely as they Come Together in the coming years.
Mickey 17 gets bumped to 2025
On one hand, Warner Bros releases movies that people love like Barbie and Dune. On the other hand, they continue to delay and cancel movies that audiences are interested in like Coyote vs Acme and now Bong Joon-Ho’s follow-up to the Oscar-winning movie Parasite, Mickey 17. Its delay from March was understandable given the new date of Dune: Part Two and the upcoming Godzilla X Kong movie. But there was some expectation that maybe it was being saved for Cannes or the Fall Festival circuit. Those expectations are gone now as Warner Bros has set a January 2025 date for the movie. I’m not sure what it says about the quality of the movie, but it might just be that Warner Bros. needed those large-format screens and given the strikes, dates were hard to come by. Either way, it’s a bummer.
The Criterion Collection recently announced their May 2024 slate which includes Best Picture nominee Anatomy of a Fall, A Story of Floating Weeds / Floating Weeds: Two Films by Yasujiro Ozu, and Peeping Tom. It continues a strong collection of upcoming titles from the distributor, including some that have already been released in 2024.
In January, Criterion released a new 4K UHD version of The Apu Trilogy by director Satyajit Ray. If you don’t know the story behind the restoration of these movies; it’s a miracle that we have the opportunity to watch them since they once suffered significant fire damage. The previous release on Blu-ray was a rare gift, but the 4K UHD represents the best way to achieve and cherish this trilogy. All three movies come highly recommended and it might be the best trilogy of films that Criterion has in their catalog.
Pictured above is Criterion’s new release of The Heroic Trio / Executioners, two Michelle Yeoh movies that were featured on the Criterion Channel last year in honor of Yeoh. I discussed The Heroic Trio with Letterboxd’s Mitchell Beaupre and John Gilpatrick on the It’s the Pictures podcast if you’d like to revisit that conversation.
Episode 147: Michelle Yeoh Kicks A**
I thought The Heroic Trio was bonkers in all the right ways reminding me a lot of Tim Burton’s Batman Returns, but featuring some of Hong Kong’s greatest performers in Michelle Yeoh and Maggie Cheung.
As I was going to press with the newsletter, the embargo for Dune: Part Two ended. I’m seeing mostly positive reviews for the science fiction epic that concludes the first Dune novel. The sequel is one of my most anticipated movies of 2024 and I’ll have a review on It’s the Pictures once I see it on opening weekend. I’ve shared two reviews below:
‘Dune: Part Two’ Is Phenomenal, Right up There With The Greatest Sci-Fi Films of all time by Mike Ryan of Uproxx
Dune: Part Two Review by Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com