In one of the most anticipated casting announcements of the decade, four-time Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan has officially signed on to portray Linda McCartney, the beloved wife, collaborator, and creative anchor of Paul McCartney, in Sam Mendes’ upcoming multi-film saga The Beatles — A Four-Film Cinematic Event, multiple sources confirm.
The ambitious project — backed by Apple Corps Ltd. and Sony Pictures — will mark the first time in history that The Beatles have fully authorized the use of their life stories and original music for narrative films. Mendes’ vision is as daring as it is groundbreaking: four separate but interconnected feature films, each told from the unique perspective of a different Beatle. When combined, the stories will form a complete portrait of the band that changed the world.
Ronan joins an already electrifying ensemble: Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison, and Harris Dickinson as John Lennon. The casting of Ronan — known for her layered, emotionally rich performances in Brooklyn, Lady Bird, and Little Women — signals that Mendes intends to give Linda’s presence in the Beatles’ narrative the depth and dignity she has long deserved.
💬 “It’s not just a story about fame,” Mendes said in a recent statement. “It’s a story about love, loss, and what happens when the music stops.”
Linda McCartney, a photographer, musician, and activist, was far more than the wife of a Beatle. She was a creative force in her own right, documenting the band’s later years through her lens and helping Paul build his post-Beatles career with Wings. Her influence on his music — particularly songs like Maybe I’m Amazed and My Love — remains one of the most tender through-lines in rock history. Ronan’s portrayal is expected to highlight that quiet strength: the love that steadied Paul through the storms of fame and the grief of loss.
Production insiders describe Mendes’ project as “operatic in scope but intimate in heart.” Each film will stand on its own yet interlock chronologically and emotionally — tracing the Beatles’ journey from their early days in Liverpool to the chaos of Beatlemania, their creative peak, their painful breakup, and their lives beyond the band. The structure mirrors the group’s harmony itself: four distinct voices creating one collective sound.
The project reunites Mendes with his 1917 cinematographer Roger Deakins, promising visual grandeur and emotional realism in equal measure. Music supervision will be overseen by Giles Martin, son of legendary producer George Martin, ensuring authenticity to the Beatles’ soundscapes.
For Ronan, the role represents a new artistic chapter. Known for her ability to balance grace and grit, she steps into the shoes of a woman whose story has often been told in the shadow of four men. Here, she will finally stand in the light — as muse, partner, artist, and soul of a love story that endured beyond fame.
All four films in The Beatles — A Four-Film Cinematic Event are slated for a historic simultaneous theatrical release in April 2028, a distribution experiment designed to allow audiences to experience the saga in any order they choose — or as a complete marathon.
With Mendes at the helm and one of the most accomplished casts of a generation, the project is already being hailed as a cinematic milestone — one that promises to unite old fans and new, echoing the timeless truth that The Beatles’ story is not just about music, but about what it means to be human.