HOLLYWOOD—Hollywood just loves movie musical biopics. Over the years, we’ve seen “Coal Miner’s Daughter” actress Sissy Spacek win an Oscar as Loretta Lynn. Reese Witherspoon won Best Actress as June Carter Cash in “Walk the Line.” Jamie Foxx won an Oscar for his role in the 2004 film “Ray” for his performance of Ray Charles. Marion Cotillard won a Best Actress Oscar as Edith Piaf in “La Vie En Rose.” Rami Malek and Tareon Egerton picked up accolades and awards as Queen frontman Freddie Mercury and Elton John. Austin Butler was amazing as Elvis Presley in “Elvis.”

We have all heard of the famous director Sam Mendes, actually Sir Sam Mendes. The Portuguese director has signed on to direct not one but four biopics about The Beatles. Each one telling the story of the Fab Four from a different member’s point of view. Biopics about pop stars have grown in popularity in recent years: “Bob Marley: One Love” was on track to earn an estimated $33.2 million last weekend, following on the success of films including “Elvis” in 2022 and “Bohemian Rhapsody” in 2018.

Apple Corps, the guardian of the Beatles’ musical interests, and Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and the families of John Lennon and George Harrison have granted full life story and music rights for the scripted films. A first, which will be financed and released by Sony Pictures Entertainment. The films are planned for release in 2027.

Mendes, the Oscar-winning director of “American Beauty,” has helped refresh the James Bond franchise with “Skyfall” and told the story of two British lance corporals in World War I in “1917.” His other films include, “Road to Perdition,” “Jarhead,” “Revolutionary Road,” “Away We Go” and “Spectre.” Mendes has also worked as a theatre director, his work with “The Lehman Trilogy,” a saga about the rise and fall of Lehman Brothers earned him a Tony Award. The film will be produced by Dame Pippa Harris.

Everyone loves The Beatles, and I predict it will be a huge success. The Beatles have shown strength with movie audiences since they starred in “A Hard Day’s Night” in 1964, playing versions of themselves. The response was so positive with Peter Jackson’s documentary series “The Beatles: Get Back,” an over-seven-hour project, that was released back in 2021 on Disney+.

The Beatles are widely considered the greatest British band of all time thanks to a string of classic albums such as “Rubber Soul,” “Revolver,” “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and “Abbey Road.” Their best-known hits include “Yesterday,” “Hey Jude,” “Love Me Do,” “Help,” “A Hard Day’s Night,” “Eight Day’s A Week,” “Let It Be,” “Come Together,” “Here Comes The Sun” and “Twist and Shout.” The majority of their songs were written by Lennon and McCartney. Harrison was often said to have felt frustrated that his own compositions were not given equal weight by his bandmates.

It was just last year that The Beatles released what was described as their final song, titled “Now and Then,” the first bars were written by John Lennon back in 1978, but could not be completed until software advances allowed the remaining band-members to extract his vocals from a rough demo cassette.

So which actors will land the roles of the Fab Four? George Mackay may land the role of John Lennon, based on his previous work with Mendes, according to published reports. Skiffle fan Jacob Fortune-Lloyd could play a convincing late period George Harrison. Asa Butterfield and Craig Roberts could be great casting as Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr roles.

Would love to see a film on Madonna, which we heard she’s currently directing her own life story for the big screen with a script co-written by Erin Cressida Wilson. Martin Scorsese will direct and produce an untitled Grateful Dead biopic for Apple TV+, with “Wolf of Wall Street” star Jonah Hill playing the late band frontman Jerry Garcia. Screenwriters Scott  Alexander and Larry Karaszewski will pen the script. The Bay Area band rose to fame in the 1960s, and Garcia died of a heart attack in a residential drug-treatment facility at the age of 53 in 1995.

Rose’s Scoop: Would love to see a biopic on Laura Branigan, the late multi-platinum singer, songwriter. I’ve always loved her voice; her talent and persona will live on in the hearts of her millions of fans. Her legacy manager is Kathy Golik, who does a great job in keeping her legacy alive.