The silver screen’s Fab Four have been announced.
The actors chosen to play John, Paul, Ringo and George in the new biopic “Midas Man” about legendary Beatles manager Brian Epstein were shared on Thanksgiving Day.
As reported by Deadline, Jonah Lees, 26, of UK series “The Letter For The King,” is John Lennon; musician Blake Richardson, 22, from British pop trio New Hope Club, is Paul McCartney; Leo Harvey-Elledge, 19, who played rocker Liam Gallagher in “Creation Stories,” is George Harrison; and newcomer Campbell Wallace is Ringo Starr.
“Peaky Blinders” actor Adam Lawrence, 30, also joins as former Beatles drummer Pete Best, and “The Queen’s Gambit” actor Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, 33, has been chosen to portray Beatles manager Epstein, a record shop manager from Liverpool who would discover the greatest band of all time.
Filming “Midas Man” began last month in Liverpool but soon ran aground since the film’s initial director Jonas Akerlund was said to be “taking a break” from work and “unlikely to return” to set.
Regarding the Swedish director’s departure, a statement from production read: “We can confirm that filming of ‘Midas Man’ will continue in London in November before breaking for Christmas. Filming will restart in early January in Los Angeles.”
Sara Sugarland (“Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen”) has since been selected to replace Akerland, and production is again underway.
“The actors playing the Beatles are an extraordinary group they ooze that very visceral feeling of the ’60s, are charming, playful and so authentic,” Sugarland said of the newly chosen cast.
In addition, 71-year-old “Tonight Show” icon Jay Leno was recently announced for the role of Ed Sullivan, who hosted the band during their first live appearance on US television in 1964 on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”
Sugarland said Leno’s “own experience as an American television host will bring forward a natural and accurate portrayal and add an incredible element of modern showbiz to the story.”