Following months of speculation, The Beatles‘ Ringo Starr has confirmed that Barry Keoghan is being eyed to play him in the forthcoming series of Beatles films that Sam Mendes will direct for Sony.
“I think it’s great,” said Starr to Entertainment Tonight when asked about his reaction to Keoghan’s rumored casting. “I believe he’s somewhere taking drum lessons, and I hope not too many.”
Mendes is planning to direct four biopics, each dedicated to a band member: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Starr. All of the movies will be released separately in theaters by Sony Pictures. While several stars have been rumored to be circling the splashy project, including Pual Mescal and Joseph Quinn, no deals have been made with any of the cast. Sony has not commented yet. The films will intersect to “tell the astonishing story of the greatest band in history,” leading up to their 1970 breakup.
Mendes, the director of critical hits like American Beauty, Road to Perdition and 1917, has described his latest project as a “challenge to the notion of what constitutes a trip to the movies.”
Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and the families of the late John Lennon and George Harrison have given the filmmaker the full life story and music rights for the upcoming films.
Mendes will also produce via his Neal Street Productions, along with Pippa Harris and Julie Pastor, with Jeff Jones exec producing for Apple Corps Ltd.
Starr joined The Beatles in 1962, replacing their original drummer, Pete Best. His drumming shaped iconic tracks like “Come Together” and “Ticket to Ride,” and he also occasionally took lead vocals on tracks like “With a Little Help from My Friends,” “Yellow Submarine,” and “Octopus’s Garden,” the latter of which he also wrote. The musician went on to a successful solo career after the group disbanded in the 1970s.
“You have to match the boldness of the idea with a bold release strategy,” Rothman previously told The Hollywood Reporter about the project that earned the Oscar-winning director a coveted signoff from the group’s selective label Apple Corps. “There hasn’t been an enterprise like this before, and you can’t think about it in traditional releasing terms.”