Harris Dickinson is not ready to confirm whether he will be playing John Lennon.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, published on January 29, 2025, Dickinson, 28, briefly addressed rumors about him portraying the iconic Beatle in Sam Mendes’ upcoming four-part series on the Beatles.
The article mentioned that when the topic came up, Dickinson — whose casting as Lennon has not been confirmed — groaned and said, “Don’t ask me about that.”
He then shared a follow-up comment, saying, “Okay, my comment is that I think it would be a brilliant opportunity to play John Lennon, and to work with Sam and everyone else mentioned. Yeah, I don’t know. It would be splendid.”
Mendes, 59, the director of Skyfall and 1917, announced in February 2024 that he would be directing four films about the Beatles in collaboration with Sony Pictures and Neal Street Productions.
These films will explore the band’s history, focusing on the perspectives of each member, including Lennon, who passed away in 1980, as well as Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr.
Though the casting for each of the Beatles has not been officially confirmed, Dickinson is rumored to star alongside Paul Mescal, who is believed to play McCartney; Barry Keoghan as Starr; and either Joseph Quinn or Charlie Rowe as Harrison, who died in 2001 at the age of 58.
In December 2024, director Ridley Scott seemingly revealed the rumor about Mescal’s casting in a conversation with Christopher Nolan following a screening of Gladiator II.
Meanwhile, Starr, in an interview that same month, mentioned that he believed Keoghan was “somewhere taking drum lessons” for his role.
A press release about the film series, issued in February 2024, indicated that the four movies are expected to be released globally in 2027.
While the Beatles have been portrayed on-screen before — with Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Thomas Brodie-Sangster playing younger versions of Lennon and McCartney in 2009’s Nowhere Boy, and Jacob Fortune-Lloyd recently portraying their manager Brian Epstein in Midas Man — Mendes’ project will mark the first time that Apple Corps Ltd. and The Beatles have granted the rights to their life stories and music for a feature film.
“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 in his February 2024 statement regarding the films.
