In April (that’s the fourth month of the year) of 2028 (divisible by four), Sony plans to release Sam Mendes’s Beatles (four guys) biopics in theaters. That’s four movies — starring Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison, and Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr — all released together to create what Mendes said Sony exec Tim Rothman referred to as “the first bingeable theatrical experience.” What that means precisely is kind of a mystery — are we supposed to sit through them all back-to-back like people do for The Lord of the Rings over the holidays? Are these bingeable and malleable like the somewhat disastrous but ambitious fourth season of Arrested Development? In order to appease AMC Stubs members, they’ll have to split up the releases rather than dump all the films in one week, right? Also, isn’t it kind of funny that Paul is playing Paul? They should have tried to find other guys with names that line up.
While we don’t yet know the release strategy outside of the amorphous concept of April 2028, we’d like to present a couple of theories as to the order in which the films should be viewed.
Option 1: John, Paul, George, and Ringo
Ask anyone who the members of the Beatles are and they’ll likely say these names in this order. At some point, this became the default order of guys in the Fab Four. Mendes would be making it easy on the viewer to engage with the group by keeping it simple and straightforward.
Option 2: Paul, George, Ringo, and John
This viewing experience engages in classic “symphonic structure,” which is to say the order in which a symphony proceeds for the average listener. A symphony begins with a strong, clear-minded opening, followed by a darker, slower second movement, a goofy third movement, and a strong, memorable finale. Also, this order alternates the living Beatles with the deceased Beatles. We’d start off with the straightforward Paul — getting the details of the band’s history right — move on to the mysterious, quiet George, pick things up with the goofball Ringo, and end with John, whose larger-than-life legacy hovers over the band. This is the most thematically logical order to engage with the Beatles that allows both the cold, hard facts of the band to intermingle with the fantasy and mythos of the music.
Option 3: George, John, Paul, and Ringo
This is just alphabetical order. Sometimes the way the library does it is the way to go.
Option 4: Ringo, George, John, and Paul
This order would build melodically from drums to bass to guitar to piano. You’d add in each new Beatle and get a new tone or rhythm to the overarching “song” that is the story of the band. Start with “peace and love,” end with Wings. It does sort of make sense, and it keeps everyone from leaving on the bummer note of John’s death. That does mean Paul has to stay alive for another three years — let’s get him on some vitamin-B IVs stat.