British actor James Norton has been cast as the Beatles’ influential manager Brian Epstein in an upcoming four-part musical biopic directed by Sam Mendes.
He will star in the unconventional project, dubbed The Beatles – A Four-Movie Movie Event, alongside Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Harrison Dickinson as John Lennon, Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr and Joseph Quinn as George Harrison.
Epstein, a legendary figure among Beatles fans and often considered the band’s fifth member, met the Fab Four in 1961 and helped make them a global phenomenon. He remained with the group until his death at age 32 from a drug overdose in 1967 (Epstein’s own epic story was immortalized in the 2024 biopic Midasman).
Film studio Sony declined to comment on Norton’s casting, which was first reported by Deadline.
Mendes has produced four separate films, one from the perspective of each member of the Beatles. All four films are scheduled to hit the screens in April 2028. It is hoped that these films will intersect to capture the band’s unlikely journey from Liverpool to the center of world culture, leading up to their breakup in 1970. Given Epstein’s influence, it is likely that he will appear in each of the films.
It is unclear how other key figures from the Beatles world will be incorporated into the film’s quartet. As previously reported, Saoirse Ronan will play Linda McCartney, Shogun star Anna Sawai will play Yoko Ono, White Lotus star Amy Lou Wood will play Harrison’s spouse Patti Boyd, and Mia McKenna-Bruce will play the star’s first wife, Maureen Starkey.
Norton, 40, recently appeared in another music biopic, last year’s Bob Marley: One Love, as record producer Chris Blackwell. His other credits include the Netflix limited series “House of Guinness,” “Grantchester,” “Happy Valley” and the third season of HBO’s “House of the Dragon.”
