Sam Mendes' four Beatles movies, which, at least for now, are being called The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event, are presenting some interesting and potentially complicated issues (not to mention people freaking out over set photos). Questions like: How do you release the four movies? Are they all released on the same date, which has been the plan so far? Do you create a unique ticketing system that encourages fans to buy tickets for all four movies at the same time? How do you count the box office receipts? What order should or will fans want to see them in? These aren’t things that standard movie releases face, and it’s unclear how Sony, the studio behind the movies, is going to handle it.
How Will They Be Released?
Many months ago, we learned that the plan is to release all four Beatles movies on the same day–April 7, 2028. Now, a new article from The Hollywood Reporter indicates that the plans may be more fluid. THR reported that the co-producer of the movies, Pippa Harris, addressed this at a recent industry event in London. Harris said:
We want people to be able to experience them in the cinema at the same time, during the same period. Now that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re thinking that people will go and see all four films on the same day. But within the same month, you might see one a week, or you might see one film one weekend and another the next.
According to THR, that can be seen in a couple of different ways, including that the plan has changed and the studio isn’t planning on releasing the movies all at once. I ascribe to another interpretation: that they will stick to the original plan, but that complicates counting the money.
Part of the reason is that there are clearly two Beatles, Paul McCartney and John Lennon, whose stories will be more appealing to hardcore and casual fans alike. It’s not unreasonable to expect those movies to sell more tickets than the two about Ringo Starr and George Harrison (though, full disclosure, I can’t wait for the one about Harrison, my favorite Beatle).
Another thing that makes these releases so different is the idea of a four-movie pass. Harris seems to be implying that theaters could sell a pack of tickets for each of the four movies, and people can see them all at once, or over the course of a week or a month. That isn’t like anything I’ve ever seen in the movie business, but it's not impossible. Ticketmaster does this with concerts, for example. But it is something that isn’t normal.
Then there is an issue surrounding how to count the box office take. This is four movies being shot simultaneously with one budget, and the same cast in each. Will the box office count towards all four, or each individually? Obviously this isn’t really a concern for people who just want to see the movies, like me, but it will make for some unique accounting.
Does all this mean that the release dates could be spread out? We’ll have to wait and see!
