Three out of four Beatles

Three out of the four actors who’ve been cast to play the Beatles in Sam Mendes's upcoming quad-biopic were at the British Independent Film awards last night in London. If you missed it, Sam is directing four separate films, each focusing on an individual Beatle; the plan is to shoot them all back-to-back and then release all of them on the same day, April 7, 2028. 

For months last year and earlier this year there were rumours about who would be John, Paul, Ringo, and George and it was finally confirmed back in March: 

Word is they were supposed to start shooting a couple of weeks ago and they would have to, given the timeline. I know 2028 seems like it’s still far away, and who knows if humans will still be watching and listening to films and music made by humans by the time we get there, but four films will take at least a year in production so that’s, presumably, all of 2026 and maybe even some of 2027. The rest of 2027 they’ll be in post-production. One year of post for one film is one thing, but this is one year in post for FOUR films that are separate but also have to relate to each other, for continuity etc, never mind all the sound engineering that has to go into this considering you’re dealing with a band that’s responsible for some of the biggest hits in the history of music. 

Back to the event last night then and the three Beatles who were present: Harris Dickinson (John Lennon), Joseph Quinn (George Harrison), and Paul Mescal (Paul McCartney). Barry Keoghan is the one missing. And he’s actually had a pretty quiet 2025, at least in comparison to the previous couple of years and ever since he and Sabrina Carpenter broke up. When he has shown up, lately at least, it’s to support his fellow Beatles. Here he is with Harris back in September at the premiere of Harris’s directorial debut, Urchin. 

And here he is at the Hamnet premiere in London in October. Paul Mescal plays Shakespeare in the film. 

As you can see, Barry’s hair is pretty Beatled, presumably in preparation to play Ringo Starr. 

Back to Paul Mescal though and his performance in Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet – this is one of the most critically acclaimed films of the year, expected to contend for multiple Oscar nominations, and could be fighting for Best Picture with One Battle After Another and Sinners. Jessie Buckley is the frontrunner right now for Best Actress and Paul is also showing up on almost every prediction list for Best Supporting Actor. It would be his second nomination. 

The supporting actor category is looking pretty competitive in that I don’t know that anyone is out here calling it a slamdunk for one actor. You’ll recall, two years ago Robert Downey Jr had pretty much wrapped it up at this point. And last year Kieran Culkin hadn’t quite locked it down by December but, like, pretty quickly into the new year it was his. 

If there is a frontrunner it would be Stellan Skarsgård in Sentimental Value. But since Sean Penn will be contending with One Battle After Another, I don’t know that you can say that Stellan has all that much of a lead. And also… there’s a lot of momentum building for Adam Sandler in Jay Kelly. The film releases on Netflix this Friday and he’s so popular in Hollywood and the movie is actually playing well in Hollywood – and by Hollywood I mean among the circles of people whose tastes often determine how the votes swing, and they can swing in an entirely different direction than what you think is popping just by looking at TikTok. Jay Kelly is a film about celebrity that celebrities would respond to. Don’t be surprised if it does well on nomination day. And if Netflix is campaigning behind anyone right now, it’s Adam. There are a lot of people who think he was snubbed for Uncut Gems. Jay Kelly may deliver him his first. 

So that’s Adam, Paul, Sean, and Stellan occupying the four spots for a nomination right now (according to pundits) and it’s the fifth that’s up in the air. Jacob Elordi is picking up some heat now that Frankenstein is on Netflix but I don’t know if we should be counting out Oscar-winner Benicio del Toro considering how much weight One Battle After Another is ostensibly carrying into the ring. And if it were up to me, Delroy Lindo would be more in the conversation, he was SO good in Sinners. Jacob is definitely the thirstiest though, and he’s been hustling – more agreeable than he’s ever been, even when the paps are around. The Gotham Film Awards are happening tonight in New York. Several contenders will be showing up. And then, pretty much every day this week, film boards and associations will be announcing their winners lists. The Critics Choice Awards nominations are on Friday too, followed by the Golden Globe nominations a week today, next Monday. The race is narrowing. More on that to come.