According to People, the four actors were seen crossing the road in outfits styled to resemble those worn by McCartney, Lennon, Starr and Harrison on the album artwork. The recreation comes months into production on the films, which have already generated a steady stream of images of the actors in character.
There are more subtle ways to announce that a Beatles production has reached Abbey Road. Few would be as useful to photographers.
Why Sam Mendes is making four Beatles movies instead of one
The scale of the project is its defining feature. Mendes has conceived four theatrical films told from the individual perspectives of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr, with the stories intersecting to form a larger account of the band.
The director has said he had wanted to make a Beatles film for years but concluded that the story was too large for a single feature. At CinemaCon in 2025, he described the eventual solution as the “first bingeable theatrical experience.”
That phrase carries quite a workload. Streaming services made binge-watching routine by removing the requirement to leave the sofa; Sony and Mendes are proposing something considerably more ambitious involving four cinema tickets.
The production is also unusual because it has access that previous dramatic Beatles projects did not. Apple Corps, McCartney, Starr and the families of Lennon and Harrison have granted full life-story and music rights for the scripted films, according to the official Beatles announcement.
Mescal and Keoghan have already met the Beatles they are playing
The casting was formally unveiled at Sony’s CinemaCon presentation in 2025 after months of speculation. Mendes said at the event that The Beatles had “changed my understanding of music” and that he had been attempting to make a film about the group for years.
For at least two members of the cast, preparation has included meeting the men they will portray.
Keoghan said in a 2025 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live that he was so nervous around Starr that he initially struggled to look at him. The actor said his aim was to observe Starr’s mannerisms while avoiding simple imitation and instead “humanize him and bring feelings to him.”
Mescal has similarly spoken about spending time with McCartney, calling the experience “crazy” and describing the musician as “an extraordinary man.”
Those encounters underline one of the complications facing any Beatles drama. McCartney and Starr are still able to see fictional versions of themselves being constructed, while Lennon and Harrison must be approached through archival material, surviving accounts and the involvement of their families.
April 2028 will test whether audiences want four sides of the same story
Sony Pictures is financing and distributing The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event, with Mendes directing all four movies and producing alongside Pippa Harris, Julie Pastor and Alexandra Derbyshire. The project is being made by Neal Street in association with Apple Corps.
The films are scheduled for theatrical release in April 2028, although the precise release pattern and order have not been publicly detailed. Sony has presented that distribution strategy itself as part of the experiment rather than merely a scheduling decision.
For now, the Abbey Road photographs provide something much simpler: the first unmistakable visual link between the four actors and perhaps the most famous image of the band they have been asked to recreate.
The harder part comes after they reach the other side of the road — making four Beatles films feel like four necessary perspectives rather than one very long biopic divided into pieces.
