EXCLUSIVE: James Norton has been tapped to play The Beatles longtime manager Brian Epstein in Sam Mendes’ The Beatles — A Four-Film Cinematic Event, sources tell Deadline.
Reps for Sony declined to comment. Ronan joins a cast that includes Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison, and Harris Dickinson as John Lennon. With each of the Mendes-directed Beatles films telling the story of a different member of the band, unknown how significant a role he’d have in each film but given Epstein’s influence on group, he is expected to be featured in each film.
Epstein first met the Beatles in 1961 at a lunchtime concert at Liverpool’s Cavern Club and even though he had no experience managing musicians, Epstein put them under contract. He also attempted to get the Beatles a recording contract, eventually securing a deal with EMI’s Parlophone label.
We were first to report on the Beatles films from Mendes, all of which will be released in theaters in April 2028, in a bold experiment in eventizing. Mendes will direct from scripts written by Jez Butterworth, Peter Straughan and Jack Thorne, as we told you first, though it’s unclear which projects each is tackling. A collaboration between Sony Pictures Entertainment and Mendes’ Neal Street Productions, the films will be produced by Mendes, Pippa Harris and Julie Pastor of Neal Street, as well as Alexandra Derbyshire, in association with Apple Corps for Sony Pictures.
This marks the first time that The Beatles and Apple Corps Ltd. have authorized the use of the band members’ life stories and music in scripted films. In addition to distributing, Sony Pictures is the financier of the projects.
Norton is no stranger to biopics about legendary musicians recently appearing in Paramount’s Bob Marley pic Bob Marley: One Love.
Norton can be seen in the highly anticipated Netflix limited series House Of Guinness which recently premiered on the streamer last month. He also recently wrapped production on the third season of HBO’s House of the Dragon.
He is repped by WME and The Artists Partnership.
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