'House of Guinness' star set to essay Beatles' manager in Sam Mendes-helmed musical biopic
'House of Guinness' star James Norton will essay Brian Epstein, the iconic manager of the Beatles, in Sam Mendes' four-part biopic. The English actor will now star alongside Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr, Harrison Dickinson as John Lennon, and Joseph Quinn as George Harrison. Epstein was always looked at as the legendary band's fifth member for his crucial role in the Beatles' success when he met the singers in 1961.
Epstein died of a drug overdose at 32, and his own story was narrated in his 2023 biopic, 'Midas Man'. At the time of writing, his role across the four movies is unknown, as each installment will focus on each of the members of the band. All four films will make their debut in 2028, and Epstein is expected to be a major player in all of the movies. Earlier, it was reported that Saoirse Ronan would play Linda McCartney, Anna Sawai as Yoko Ono, Aimee Lou Wood as Pattie Boyd, and Mia McKenna-Bruce as Starr's first wife, Maureen Starkey.
Norton recently made headlines for his appearance in another musical flick, 'Bob Marley: One Love, as record producer Chris Blackwell. His other major credits include Netflix’s limited series 'House of the Dragon,' 'Happy Valley,' and HBO’s 'House of the Dragon.'
In related news, Starr was candid when asked about the four-part movie. "I’m excited that Mendes has taken the madness of making four movies at the same time," he told PEOPLE. "My life as a lad, John's life, Paul's life, George's life, I mean, it must interact in some way," he added. "There’ll be Beatles in mine around when I joined, and there’ll be Beatles in Paul’s. We’ll all be there. So I’m excited to see what he does with it."
In his statement at the time of announcing the movie, "I’m honored to be telling the story of the greatest rock band of all time, and excited to challenge the notion of what constitutes a trip to the movies," Mendes said. "I had been trying to do a film for years, but I finally gave up," the 'Skyfall' director later said at Sony CinemaCon presentation earlier in March. "There had to be a way to tell the epic story for a new generation… I can assure you there is still plenty left to explore, and I think we found a way to do that."
Watch this space for more updates on the Beatles biopic.
