The first character photos for the upcoming Beatles Movies have been shown online, and they reveal many things about how the members will be depicted. 

The Fab Four Films – A History

The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event is a theatrical experience of four separate biopic movies, all set to be released simultaneously. Each movie will be from the perspective of a different member of the Beatles: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. 

The main cast was announced in late 2024, all of whom were already established actors with a history of big roles. The cast included Harris Dickinson as John, Paul Mescal as Paul, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison, and Barry Keoghan as Ringo. 

Now, four postcards have been released by the marketing studio for the film, which show us each actor portraying their respective Beatle. This sparked a huge amount of debate online about how well each of them looked, receiving both positive and negative reception. 

Beatles Photos – Eras and Styles 

It appears that each photo details a different era of the Beatles, suggesting that the timeframe of the four films will span the band’s entire career from 1960 to 1970. 

Paul Mescal is seen portraying an early 1960’s Mcartney in their ‘Cavern Club’ era, while the rest of the three are depicting the Beatles’ later 1960’s era, perhaps around the time of the Abbey Road recording sessions. 

Each of them has outfits, styles, and haircuts that help solidify the era they are meant to be portraying – Paul with his classic mobtop haircut and waistcoat, Ringo with a 1960’s hipster psychedelic shirt, and John and George with their signature long, messy hair (John also adopting his iconic round glasses). 

After these initial photocards were released, additional movie set photos were leaked online. These photos showed the actors depicting the band from the ‘Beatlemania period’, when they first toured America and reached international stardom. 

While many people online have claimed that these actors do not resemble their real-life characters strongly enough, these photos may not yet be the greatest indicator of how they will look or act when the four films are released. 

How The Film May Utilise Digital Technology

There are rumours that state-of-the-art digital technology may be implemented to digitally enhance the Beatles’ faces to appear more accurate. AI enhancements may be used to change each actor’s physical features to replicate the appearance of the Beatles they portray. 

This can seem a step too far from tangibility for some, but the general trend these past few years has been to leverage technology to sell the idea of immersion in more virtual arenas, and it doesn’t show any sign of slowing down. It’s not only in films that this occurs, but also in gaming. Virtual reality, for instance, has been implemented in many games to provide uncanny first-person experiences for players. In UK casino Mr Green too, players can find real-life hosts being used to make their Live Game Shows feel more spontaneous and personable when streamed onto people’s screens. 

So, likewise, these four new movies can be made to feel more realistic and accurate to the time-period in which they are set by using technology, and that’s far from a bad thing.

While professional haircuts and a talented wardrobe department can assist with this immersion, ultimately, these actors are not the same people as the men they are playing,. This means that the use of digital enhancements may yet be essential to add an extra element of convincingness to the final product.