Time for a bio-pic!


i think it really is time for a real bio-pic on the Beatles rise to fame. Done well, it could be really great. i know their story is so huge and mythic, it's intimidating to take on, kind of like an Elvis movie would be, but it can be done right. i think the the thing to focus on would be the friendship between the four guys, and the relationship between john and paul in particular.
that would keep it at a relatable audience level. anyone know if they are planning one anytime soon?

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While I've thought about it myself, I don't know how much I like the idea. The Beatles story is huge, and a 3 hour biopic wouldn't do it justice. There have been several attempts at Beatles films, none actually dealing directly with the band's history as a whole, and none of them have been that successful. Same with the countless Elvis biopics that have been made. The Beatles are too iconic, too legendary to have a director attempt to tell their story, and have actors attempt to portray characters that the world is so endeared to. Nah, the Beatles Anthology, is the closest, and best, you could get to a biopic.

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It still be cool if they made one

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One movie couldn't do their story justice. They should do a trilogy. The early years up to 1963, the Beatlemania years and then the break up years. Three different movies. They should do it!!! Why not, they broke ground doing everything else, why not this? They can't just do one 2 hour movie though, that's for sure. And they need to use the actual music or not bother.

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the closest we have is Backbeat and years ago there was a movie called The Birth Of The Beatles. both movies delt more with the early days with Stu. both were fine movies.

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Actually, the 3 movie trilogy thing might not be such a bad idea. I don't know if it would really work for a film, but they could attempt that in something like an HBO miniseries.

It could work that way! HBO has better quality shows and they're not censored like regular networks. It would have the quality of a feature film, but they could stretch it out to get their whole history in.

HBO has had some great miniseries in the past, and they attract big directors and stars. Yup, that'd be a good way to go, i think.

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Hey I like that idea! Now all we need is someone to pitch it to the execs over at HBO. Anyone got any connections? ;D

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Personally I like "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" :-P

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This would be a cool idea, not only use the actual music, but the master tapes and alternate takes to make new mixes so that it lends more authenticity than having a couple of guys mime to the studio versions that we've all been hearing the same way for 40+ years. Any time I see something like that in a movie it makes me cringe cuz it seems so fake, forced and since we know the music by heart we then know it's not really them - I'd like to be taken out of my comfort zone and hear something familiar with just a twist so it seems more like it's actually happening. A cool scene might be the recording of Twist and Shout, starting with the first recording of the song that night, through the many takes so you can hear how hoarse John's voice got.

Anyways, a trilogy would be great, but picturing it in my head I imagine something cheesy, almost like the "TO BE CONTINUED!" at the end of Back To The Future, but done in the beatles font, but with the Back To The Future music playing in the background (yeah, I know they wouldn't but it would be kinda funny) - but with horrible dialogue as well:

Epstein: Did you hear that guys? You're going to the U-nited States!
Beatles: WHAAAAAT?
[cue "to be continued" screen with Back To The Future music]

- adrian

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I'd rather have mostly unknowns in the roles. Isn't Jude Law playing Brian Epstein in a movie? I thought I read that somewhere a while ago. Gywneth as Linda would be annoying. Mainly because I hate Gywneth and she doesn't really look like Linda. But She is a good actress. I have to admit that. The only REAL requirement for the movie would be to have the actual music used. If it wasn't it would just be too distracting and would take away from the overall affect the Beatles had on people. No one can do their music like they can.

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Like some of you, I find the idea of a Beatles mini-series to be the best way to do the band justice. I've always felt that it could be a 3-part mini-series with each installment being 3 hours long.

The first part would start off with The Beatles in Hamburg, and show the band as they deal with Stu's death, Pete Best's replacement, getting a record deal, and finally Beatlemania in the UK. The 2nd part would show Beatlemania in America, A Hard Day's Night, the World Tour, the tumultous meeting with Elvis, Help!, the controversy surrounding the band receiving MBEs, the disastrous tour in Asia, and dealing with record burnings as well as John's "Jesus" comment in America.

The 3rd and final installment would show the band recording Sgt. Pepper, going to India, the difficult times during the White Album, the Get Back sessions, Abbey Road, and finally the break up. The problem with doing it of course is getting the right actors to play the Beatles themselves, and getting the rights for the music. I believe Sony Music now owns the publishing rights to all the songs (not Michael Jackson) and getting all the necessary parties to agree to having the songs featured in the mini-series would be complicated.

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sony could go ahead and create a movie then sell re-mastered albums to coincide with the release of the film to capatilize on crazieness of the films release. the sony does make films such as spider-man. the best chance for a bio would be around 2013 sadly 50th anniversery of american arrival.

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Sony can't sell Beatles albums, they don't have the distribution rights, EMI and Capitol Records do I believe. Sony just has the publishing rights. They make a profit everytime a Beatles song is used somewhere. They pretty much make 50% of the money off of any royalty fees that are paid for using Beatles songs. The other 50% goes to the songs' composers (in this case, it would be split between Paul McCartney and Lennon's widow Yoko Ono.

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forget the album idea then it would still be easy for them to make a movie with the publishing rights if the dont come out with a sound track album

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So Sony should bring in EMI and/or Capitol Records as producers, and cut a deal.

It needs to be a multi-movie story though, seen in a packed theater, not streaming on a laptop.

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Don't forget the Bob Dylan meeting.How much did THAT change music history! Man, I wish his would happen. But only if it were done WELL. Which is a big if.

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"Anyways, a trilogy would be great, but picturing it in my head I imagine something cheesy, almost like the "TO BE CONTINUED!" at the end of Back To The Future, but done in the beatles font, but with the Back To The Future music playing in the background (yeah, I know they wouldn't but it would be kinda funny) - but with horrible dialogue as well:

Epstein: Did you hear that guys? You're going to the U-nited States!
Beatles: WHAAAAAT?
[cue "to be continued" screen with Back To The Future music]"

Well I'll tell ya, this would sure get ME excited!

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I don't think even a three part could cover everything...though the time for a beatles revival is now (What with love, Help!, across the universe), but I don't see anything happening. Are there any anniversaries coming up? (other then the arrival in America)

However if there was a trilogy, it might look a bit tacky using the actual songs with different people miming to it. It just doesn't really work in musical bio-pics. Walk the line did a good job with the music.

Song rights would be biggest hurdle, however actors would cause a lot of distress, no doubt. Where do you find beatles look-alikes, who can act, sing and capture the eccense of the four most charismatic and beloved muscians this world has known? Its next to impossible. Unknowns is certainly the best way to go, unknowns who are probably die-hard fans, know everything about the character they're going to play, look very simialr and undergo acting & singing courses. Although he's no longer an unknown, I'm down with this idea as long as Jim Sturgess plays Paul ;)

They could do another full-on beatles revival if they remaster all the music, along with Let It Be and Magical Mysterty Tour (maybe). I just listended to a video on youtube demonstrating the differences in quality with the original version of I am the walrus and the love version. It certainly proves that remastering their music is worthwhile.

Bottomline is, a production like this would cost a vast fortune. And I know that everybody would see this if it was made, but other then money, the amount of time one would have to dedicate to making a movie like this would be simply overwhelming. Then there's the problem of director- who has the guts to take on a project like this? Then you need to sort out all the information on the beatles- there's so many differnet accounts on their story (from their ex-wives, to people that didn't even know them), it would be difficult to construct an un-biased view of their story.

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A miniseries seems plausible BUT it would still seem a bit incomplete because there's always A LOT more to cover when it comes to The Beatles.

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The story of The Beatles couldn't fit in a two hour movie. A TV miniseries might be more appropriate, but I hate miniseries.

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Maybe a “slice of life” biopic would be better where it focuses just on one moment in the the Beatles career but the content would be enough to encapsulate their whole story. Perhaps maybe a film focused on the Beatles trip to India so it would focus on the deep psychological/spiritual awakening the Beatles would have experienced with Maharishi at the time.

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