Four-time Academy Award nominee Saoirse Ronan has joined the cast of Sam Mendes highly anticipated and ambitious four-film Beatles project. Mendes is directing not one, but four biopics about the Beatles, with each film centered on each member of the Fab Four. The films are planned to be released one week apart in April 2028 and will star Harris Dickinson (Babygirl) as John Lennon, Paul Mescal (Hamnet) as Paul McCartney, Joseph Quinn (The Fantastic Four: First Steps) as George Harrison, and Barry Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin) as Ringo Starr.
Deadline reports that Ronan has signed on to play Linda McCartney, the late wife of Paul McCartney. Ronan’s representative has not officially confirmed her casting, but if cast, Ronan’s Linda would play a significant role in the Paul McCartney-centered film, though her role in the other three Beatles entries is unknown. Ronan is best known for her roles in critically acclaimed films such as Atonement, Brooklyn, Lady Bird, and Little Women, all of which earned her Academy Award nominations.
The Legacy of Linda McCartney and The Beatles
Linda McCartney was a photographer, musician, and animal rights activist. Before she married Paul McCartney in 1969, she had already become the first female photographer to have her work featured on the cover of Rolling Stones. She later served as the keyboardist for Wings, Paul McCartney’s post-Beatles break-up band. She was an outspoken animal rights activist and, alongside her husband, founded Linda McCartney Foods, a food brand specializing in vegetarian and vegan food, in 1991. As two of the most famous vegetarians, both Paul and Linda McCartney guest-starred on The Simpsons in the 1995 episode “Lisa Becomes a Vegetarian.” Linda McCartney passed away in 1998 at the age of 56 after a three-year-long battle with breast cancer. She and Paul McCartney were married for 29 years until her death.
With The Beatles often regarded as the greatest band of all time, making a film centered around them is a daunting task. Given that all four members of The Beatles are titans in their own right, it certainly makes sense to adopt a multi-installment approach and create four films centered on each member. Mendes certainly realizes how much is riding on the film and the legacy The Beatles hold, as he is casting some of the best actors working today to bring these legendary figures to life. Ronan is certainly an exciting pick alongside Dickinson, Mescal, Quinn, and Keogan.
The decision to release the four Beatles films as a cinematic weekly event, though, has been called into question. In what Mendes has described as the first “bingeable” theatrical experience, it certainly feels like a risky prospect, as it asks a lot of audiences to go see a new movie every week. It also raises questions about the order in which the films will be released, and whether the order in which one sees them matters. The four-part Beatles event film is still three years away, and there will be plenty to speculate about, but at least everyone is committed to getting the best talent to bring these legendary musicians’ stories to life.