Sam Mendes' four-film Beatles cinematic event: Beatle wives and other casting discussion

Time for some wild speculation, now we've got a lot of the Beatle wives and fifth Beatle candidates' casting confirmed. We look in particular at Saoirse Ronan as Linda McCartney, and discuss the film Foe, in which she and Paul Mescal played a couple living in an isolated setting. A bit like Paul McCartney and Linda's Scottish farmhouse exile? We've been watching lots of films featuring the cast too, and we look at what their performances suggest they'll bring to these roles. Does the casting of high-profile actors to play wives and Beatle family members suggest big roles for them, and does this in turn suggest these films will have a focus on the band's home lives, and how fame affected them?

• We'll do our best to cite all the films we've mentioned. For Mescal and Ronan, watch Foe on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.co.uk/FOE-Saoirse-Ronan/dp/B0C9G86K94
• To make sure we've got it right: Ronan was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in 2008, and for Best Actress in a Leading Role three times: 2016, 2018 and 2020
• The other Mescal films: Hamnet and The History of Sound, both out in UK cinemas in January 2026
• Mescal talking about stepping back from public view while the Beatles films are in production: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jan/02/i-dont-want-to-resent-the-thing-i-love-paul-mescal-and-josh-oconnor-on-romance-rationing-and-retirement
• You can and should buy and rent Harris Dickinson's Urchin in lots of places: https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/urchin
• Other Dickinsongs: Where the Crawdads Sing, Blitz, Babygirl
• Joseph Quinn in Hoard: https://www.justwatch.com/uk/movie/hoard
• Stranger Things, featuring Quinn from season four: https://www.netflix.com/title/80057281
• The trailer for Andrea Arnold's wonderful Bird, with Barry Keoghan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2y0iJkT97Jc
• More Keoghanicals: Dunkirk, Bring Them Down, The Batman
• Mia McKenna-Bruce stars in Seven Dials on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81314952
• And in How to Have Sex: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWmF8KpxxmA
• The films' entry on the FDA website, that currently suggests they'll all be released on 7 April 2028, but as we say is likely to change: https://filmdistributorsassociation.com/release-schedule/past-present-and-future-releases/?filmSearch=beatles

Meet the Beatles Films Podcast

The Beatles Films Podcast is hosted by Matt Looker and Ed Williamson. We're both film writers and Beatles fans. Between us we've written for TheShiznit.co.uk, Total Film, Den of Geek and Virgin Media.

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