Three men running down a street, chased by nobody and everybody. That was the scene photographers caught on September 20, 2026, when Barry Keoghan, Joseph Quinn and Harris Dickinson were filmed shooting the opening of A Hard Day’s Night for the forthcoming Beatles biopic. Variety reported the sighting, citing images from TMZ.
The 1964 original, directed by Richard Lester, followed the band across two days as they tried to keep themselves, and Paul McCartney’s mischievous grandfather, in line before a live TV performance. Its most recognisable moment is a run of shots of the band fleeing swarms of adoring fans. That, Variety said, appears to be the sequence the actors were recreating.
Four films, four Beatles
The project is called The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event. Each film focuses on a different member of the band, and the official logline reads: “Each man has his own story, but together they are legendary.” Paul Mescal plays McCartney, Quinn is George Harrison, Keoghan is Ringo Starr and Dickinson is John Lennon. A month earlier, the cast, with Mescal, had been seen recreating the cover of the Abbey Road album for the production.
Radio X, reporting on the first-look pictures in January 2026, said Sam Mendes directs the films for Sony Pictures. It was first announced in 2024 that Mendes would take on the project, with each film told from one band member’s point of view and the four intersecting to tell one story. Radio X added that it was the first time Apple Corps, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and the families of Lennon and George Harrison had granted full life story and music rights for a scripted film.
When the project was announced, Mendes said he was “honoured to be telling the story of the greatest rock band of all time”. Sony’s Tom Rothman answered with a Beatles joke of his own: “yeah, yeah, yeah!”
The wider cast
Around the four leads, Saoirse Ronan plays Linda McCartney, James Norton is Brian Epstein, Mia McKenna-Bruce is Maureen Starkey, Anna Sawai is Yoko Ono and Aimee Lou Wood is Pattie Boyd. Harry Lloyd plays George Martin, David Morrissey is Jim McCartney, Leanne Best is Mimi Smith and Bobby Schofield is Neil Aspinall. Daniel Hoffmann-Gill takes Mal Evans, Arthur Darvill is Derek Taylor and Adam Pally is Allen Klein.
All four films are due in cinemas in April 2028.
Sources
- Barry Keoghan, Joseph Quinn and Harris Dickinson Spotted Filming the Opening of 'A Hard Day's Night' Movie for Beatles Biopic
- The Beatles biopics: Get the first look at Paul Mescal, Barry Keoghan, Joseph Quinn… – Radio X
