Sony Pictures and director Sam Mendes are weighing an unusual plan for their Beatles movies: releasing all four films on the same day in April 2028, combining their box office totals and selling a four-pack ticket, The Hollywood Reporter reported on Oct. 15, 2026. The Beatles movies, billed as “The Beatles — A Four-Film Cinematic Event,” each tell the story of one band member.
Paul Mescal plays Paul McCartney, Harris Dickinson plays John Lennon, Joseph Quinn plays George Harrison and Barry Keoghan plays Ringo Starr. The release plan is still being discussed. Sources told The Hollywood Reporter that the ideas “remain fluid” and could change.
What producer Pippa Harris said in London
The latest round of speculation started at the BFI London Film Festival, where Pippa Harris, Mendes’ longtime producing partner and co-founder of Neal Street Productions, gave a keynote at the festival’s Industry Forum. Harris told the audience the production was on day 180 of its shoot, according to an earlier Hollywood Reporter story.
“The idea at the moment is the films will come out in 2028, and we want people to be able to experience them in the cinema during the same period,” Harris said. “That doesn’t necessarily mean we’re thinking that people will go and see all four films on the same day. But within the same month, you might see one a week, or you might see one on a weekend, two the next one.”
She added, as quoted by Variety, that the films “stand alone as individual stories of each of those four men, but they have a cumulative power, which I think is greater than the sum of the parts.” Harris also said she did not think there was another band that could justify four films.
Some readers took her comments to mean the films would be staggered a week apart through April. The earlier Hollywood Reporter story described the four features as slated to release a week apart in the same month.
Same-day release, combined box office and a four-pack ticket
Days later, The Hollywood Reporter’s James Hibberd reported that Sony and Mendes have long considered a same-day release for all four movies. According to that report, three ideas are on the table:
- One opening day. All four Beatles movies would arrive in theaters on the same date in April 2028.
- Combined box office. Instead of reporting each film’s ticket sales separately, the studio has considered lumping the returns of all four movies together.
- Bundled tickets. Moviegoers could buy a four-pack covering every film, with the option to watch them across one or more visits.
The Hollywood Reporter said the goal is to treat each film equally and maximize ticket sales. The A.V. Club pointed out the practical problem a staggered release would create: separate weekly openings would invite a public scorecard comparing the John and Paul films with the George and Ringo films, and Sony would effectively be competing against itself for screens.
Why this would be new for Hollywood
Studios have released sequels close together before, and streaming services drop entire seasons at once. A major studio opening four connected feature films on one day in theaters, with a single combined box office figure, would be a different kind of experiment. It would also require a large number of auditoriums in each market at the same time.
Sony already has a closer connection to theaters than most studios. It bought the Alamo Drafthouse cinema chain in 2024, a point The A.V. Club noted in its coverage. How that might factor into the Beatles rollout has not been announced.
The project arrives at a time when the business of movies is changing quickly. The Boston Report has tracked big shifts this fall, including the Paramount and Warner Bros. merger and the disappointing opening for Tom Cruise’s Digger, a reminder that even star-driven films can stumble at the box office.
What Beatles fans can expect next
For now, the firm facts are the cast, the director, the studio and the April 2028 window. The exact date, or dates, has not been set, and Sony has not officially confirmed a same-day release, a combined box office report or a four-pack ticket. Harris’ comments suggest the filmmakers want audiences to see all four films within a short period, whichever release pattern Sony chooses.
Filming was still underway as of Harris’ London appearance, and she returned to set after her one-hour session, according to The Hollywood Reporter. More details on the rollout, trailers and ticketing are likely to come closer to 2028. For more entertainment coverage, see our story on Taylor Swift’s surprise SNL cameo.
Featured image: The Beatles, with stand-in drummer Jimmie Nicol, arrive at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport in June 1964. Photo by Harry Pot for Anefo, Nationaal Archief, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Sources
- The Hollywood Reporter: Sony mulling bold plans for the Beatles movies rollout (Oct. 15, 2026)
- The Hollywood Reporter: Beatles movies release details, all four films coming in April 2028
- Variety: The Beatles biopics producer on releasing all four movies at once
- The A.V. Club: Beatles movie might have single-day rollout, bundled tickets
- Wikimedia Commons: Beatles arrive at Schiphol, 1964 (Nationaal Archief)
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