Sean Ono Lennon approves of Sam Mendes‘ Beatles biopic process. The musician, who is the son of late Beatle John Lennon and artist Yoko Ono, confirmed to Vanity Fair that he has “every confidence” in Harris Dickinson‘s ability to portray John Lennon in the buzzy four-part biopic. The full casting for all four Beatles was announced at CinemaCon 2025, with Paul Mescal portraying Paul McCartney, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison, and Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr, in addition to Dickinson’s John Lennon.
Each of the four films will center on a different Beatle’s perspective about their rise to fame. Mendes teased that the project will be the first “bingeable” moviegoing experience, with all four films hitting theaters simultaneously in April 2028.
“We are all in touch with Sam,” Lennon told Vanity Fair while promoting documentary “One to One,” adding, “I told him I am not interested in second-guessing his casting choices as a director. Would anyone have expected Christian Bale to be a good Dick Cheney [in ‘Vice’]? I think that’s the filmmaker’s choice.”
Lennon continued, “My interest has more to do with the scripts, and how they intertwine. I have every confidence in Sam and Harris and the rest of the team.” Ringo Starr previously said that he approved of Keoghan portraying him, as well.
As for the legacy of the Ono and Lennon family, Lennon said that he is a “custodian” of his parents’ art. Ono’s casting has yet to be announced for the biopic films.
“I don’t really want to be a spokesperson. I don’t think you can really speak for other people, especially John and Yoko,” Lennon said. “I feel that I am speaking for me, and I am their kid. I know a lot about them. I know a lot about their work and their intentions and where they were coming from — probably better than maybe anybody. But I don’t want to be considered a spokesperson. To be honest, my father’s not here, so it’s unfair to represent what he would think. And my mother certainly is not the kind of person who wishes me to speak for her. I wouldn’t say that I’m a spokesperson. I would say I’m a custodian, maybe.”
Lennon continued, “I think it’s almost harder than ever to keep an artist like my dad in the consciousness. There’s so much more art. There’s so much more music. There’s hundreds of thousands of albums coming out every year, and they’re all essentially free. And then on top of it, society is changing so much. So I do worry about people forgetting about John Lennon, because I don’t think society should — or can afford to — forget about people like my dad or my mom. She’s still present in the world and people are seeing her work all the time, whereas my dad hasn’t been around for a while. […] I don’t think we can afford to forget them, especially in the case of John and Yoko, because in that case, we’re talking about peace and love. And I think that message is sadly as important, if not more important than it’s ever been.”
“When I went to university, there was a core curriculum where you have to learn a certain number of masterpieces of music, a certain number of masterpieces of literature,” he continued. “I feel like society has shifted away from even believing in that kind of tradition, which I think is very dangerous. I really think that not only do we owe it to future generations to keep Shakespeare and Socrates alive, we also owe it to them to keep Jimi Hendrix and John Lennon alive.”
