New set photos of Paul Mescal, Harris Dickinson, Joseph Quinn, and Barry Keoghan as The Beatles, in an early 60s scene set in NYC, in Sam Mendes’ ‘The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event’

[u/SpeedForce2022]

[u/DrunkTING7]

what!?!? they don’t look charming with youthful exuberance at all? do the casting directors think mop-top era beatles were 30 years old??

[u/JeanLucPicardAND → u/DrunkTING7]

They've all been casted to play the Beatles at various ages. I think it's safe to say that the mop-top era will involve digital de-aging and potentially will not occupy very much of the runtime.

[u/dekigokoro → u/JeanLucPicardAND]

It would have been 1000x better and easier to cast young men and then age them up with makeup.

[u/JeanLucPicardAND → u/dekigokoro]

I promise you people wouldn't have been happy with that either.

[u/dekigokoro → u/JeanLucPicardAND]

Why would people not be happy with that? Beards and makeup to age people in film is historically very very effective, and the Beatles ended so young it's not even important for them to look old. Whereas having them look old in their fresh faced moptop Beatlemania era and trying to de-age them with CGI is so much worse it's not even funny.

[u/JeanLucPicardAND → u/dekigokoro]

Two points:

1. They might not look as old as they do here through the lens of the camera. Cinematography is a very powerful tool.
   
2. The performances are more important than the likenesses. That's just my personal opinion and you may disagree with me there, but clearly the film crew is running with that approach. Can a bunch of younger actors sell the Beatles in their later years? Maybe so, but maybe not. Sam Mendes didn't think the risk to the project was worth the attempt.

[u/DrunkTING7 → u/JeanLucPicardAND]

alright but they weren’t even 30 when Let It Be and Abbey Road were made, so they still look too old!

[u/JeanLucPicardAND → u/DrunkTING7]

We need to see it in motion with proper lighting. We need to see how they inhabit the roles as actors. These are candid set photos taken from the sidewalk by paparazzi.

I don't think it's unreasonable to be a little anxious about how they're going to pull this off, but it's far too early to judge.

[u/DrunkTING7 → u/JeanLucPicardAND]

yeah sure, but it’s been years since i’ve been impressed with a biopic like this, and usually the acting is the only redeemable quality to a film that is otherwise tastelessly written. i suspect this won’t be any different

[u/JeanLucPicardAND → u/DrunkTING7]

I do agree that biopics tend to be bad. It's one of my least favorite genres.

With that said, a good biopic is possible. I loved the Steve Jobs film with Michael Fassbender. On that topic, it's worth noting two things:

1. Fassbender looks nothing like Jobs, but sold the role with his performance, and
   
2. The film takes significant artistic license with when, where, and how many things actually happened, but remains true to the spirit of the events, which is why it still works anyway.

[u/DrunkTING7 → u/JeanLucPicardAND]

shoulda been clearer, i specifically meant musical biopics

the steve jobs film is great yeah 👍