Beatlemania was well and truly back on Sunday, more than 60 years after the pioneering pop group sparked pandemonium during their groundbreaking first trip to New York.
But it was London providing the backdrop as director Sam Mendes filmed exterior scenes for his forthcoming, four film Beatles anthology – to be released simultaneously in 2028.
With the English capital doubling as midtown Manhattan, onlookers were transported back to 1964 and the band’s initial visit to the United States for what would be a career-defining first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.
Recreating their arrival at New York’s Plaza Hotel, Mendes and his team turned a central London street into mid-60s Fifth Avenue, complete with hysterical fans, frantic photographers, police cordons and plenty of period flourishes – among them vintage cars, motorcycles and clothes.
The project’s principal cast – Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison and Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr – were seen forcing their way through the placard wielding throng while filming the band’s chaotic welcome.
Dressed in matching grey suits, the four stars matched the initial bewilderment felt by The Beatles upon arriving at the New York hotel for a promotional trip with their manager, Brian Epstein.
Beatlemania was well and truly back on Sunday as Paul Mescal (left, as Paul McCartney) and Barry Keoghan (right, as Ringo Starr) filmed scenes for a new Beatles anthology in London
(L-R) John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison are mobbed during their first visit to New York City as a band in February 1964
Joseph Quinn (left, as George Harrison), and Harris Dickinson (right, as John Lennon) were also present as filming commenced in the English capital
With one sleeve torn from his blazer, Mescal was seen idling between takes after filming his latest scenes as McCartney.
Elsewhere, Starr’s love of gadgets appeared to be keenly observed by Mendes, with Keoghan – sporting the drummer’s famous moptop – using a vintage video camera to film the staged chaos.
Dozens of extras were drafted in to play hysterical fans and the gauntlet of police officers drafted in to protect the band as they arrived at their New York base.
The Daily Mail revealed that the Beatles biopics will be filmed at London’s iconic Abbey Road Studios, with production getting underway in November last year despite earlier reports that plans had been blocked.
While it was previously claimed that Westminster Council would not allow filming at the famous zebra crossing, the council has since confirmed to the Daily Mail that production will be going ahead.
Mendes, who is directing the films, had wanted to recreate the Beatles’ 1969 album cover on the crossing.
Westminster Council told the Daily Mail that they are, in fact, working closely with production teams to facilitate filming, which will involve closing the road.
Speaking at the CinemaCon convention in Las Vegas last April, an event the cast also attended, Mendes described the films as the ‘first binge-able theatrical experience’.
With the English capital doubling as midtown Manhattan, onlookers were transported back to 1964 and the band’s initial visit to the United States for what would be a career-defining first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show
Pictured: A crowd eagerly awaits the arrival of the Beatles outside the Plaza Hotel in 1964
Mescal (left) is surrounded by police officers while filming scenes as Paul McCartney (right, outside the Plaza Hotel in 1964)
Mescal was seen idling between takes after filming his latest scenes as Paul McCartney
Pictured: Hysterical fans lose their minds as The Beatles arrive at the Plaza Hotel in 1964
The hysteria was vividly recreated by mendes and his team in London on Sun
Dressed in matching grey suits, the four stars matched the initial bewilderment felt by The Beatles upon arriving at the New York hotel
Elsewhere, Starr’s love of gadgets appeared to be keenly observed by Mendes, with Keoghan seen filming the staged chaos with a vintage video camera
Hysterical fans, frantic photographers, police cordons and plenty of period flourishes were on display as filming commenced on Sunday (pictured: Harris Dickinson as John Lennon)
Joseph Quinn looked the part as he filmed his scenes as George Harrison, famously referred to as ‘the quiet Beatle’
Extras portraying hysterical female fans were filmed throwing themselves at the band’s car
A perplexed looking John Lennon, played by Dickinson, quietly observes the madness
The project marks the first time Apple Corps Ltd and The Beatles – Sir Paul, Sir Ringo, and the families of Lennon and Harrison – have granted full life story and music rights for a scripted film.
Starr previously hinted that Saltburn star Keoghan had taken on the role.
He told Entertainment Tonight: ‘I believe he’s somewhere taking drum lessons, and I hope not too many.’
When Sir Ridley Scott was promoting his second Roman epic Gladiator II, he revealed leading man Mescal was joining the Beatles project, telling an industry event that the actor was ‘actually stacked up, doing the Beatles next’ so he may not be able to join him on his next film.
Keoghan recently admitted that he wasn’t able to look Beatles legend Ringo in the eye during their first meeting because he was overcome with nerves.
While the actor described their meeting as ‘lovely,’ he told Jimmy Kimmel Live that he was so starstruck he struggled to make eye contact with the drummer.
Keoghan was seen taking pictures while dressed as Ringo Starr in a sharp pin-stripe suit
Placards and signs welcoming The Beatles to the Big Apple were also evident on Sunday
Bedlam ensues as Beatles legend John Lennon, played by Dickinson, crosses the street
Pictured: Police officers see the funny side as teenagers raise a banner bearing the message ‘Beatles 4 Ever’ outside the Plaza Hotel in 1964
A similar banner is brandished by an extra while reenacting the chaotic street scene
John Lennon, played by Dickinson, is surrounded by fans after arriving at the Plaza Hotel
One fan holds up a cardboard sign emblazoned with the message ‘NYC loves John, Ringo, George, Paul’
The Plaza Hotel circa 1964 was brought back to life, albeit on the streets of London, as filming continued on Sunday evening
He recalled: ‘I met him at his house, and he played the drums for me. He asked me to play, but I wasn’t playing the drums for Ringo.’
Asked if he was able to ‘study’ the musician, he added: ‘I was. And when I was talking to him, I couldn’t look at him. I was nervous, like right now. But he’s like, “You can look at me.”‘
White Lotus star Aimee Lou Wood will play Harrison’s wife Pattie Boyd, while Irish Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan has been cast as Linda McCartney, the muse to many of her husband’s songs and his eventual bandmate in Wings.
Anna Sawai, who has made a name for herself in the US drama series Shogun, will appear as Lennon’s wife Yoko Ono, and British actress Mia McKenna-Bruce will play Maureen Cox, the wife of Starr.
Dickinson will play the late Lennon, whose life was tragically cut short when he was fatally shot outside his New York City apartment 1980
Keoghan was seen tending to his moptop on Sunday evening, the hairstyle made famous by The Beatles in the 1960s
Keoghan was seen clutching his camera while surrounded by extras dressed as Newn York City police officers
Fans were given a first look at the four actors in character last week (from top left: Harris DIckinson as John Lennon, Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Joseph Quinn as George Harrison and Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr)
The group were flanked by police officers on horseback and motorcycle in scenes filmed on Sunday evening
Actors in police uniform create a protective gauntlet for the band as they recreate their 1964 arrival in New York City
Mescal looks completely bewildered as he looks out at the placard-wielding throng
Dickinson appears to hold a dental plate during his latest appearance on set, suggesting the use of prosthetics in his portrayal of John Lennon
Fans wait expectantly for the band as Mendes as team get to work on their latest scenes
London’s Piccadilly doubled for midtown Manhattan, with London buses seen roaring past
Entitled The Beatles: A Four-Film Cinematic Event, the project was announced last year.
The movies will each take the perspective of one member of The Beatles as they evolve from unknowns in Liverpool in the early 1960s to becoming the biggest band in the world and then breaking up in 1970.
It’s the first time that surviving Beatles McCartney and Starr, and the families of the late Lennon and Harrison, have given the rights to feature films about them.
Announcing the female foursome, Mendes said: ‘Maureen, Linda, Yoko and Pattie are four fascinating and unique figures in their own right, and I’m thrilled that we’ve managed to persuade four of the most talented women working in film today to join this amazing adventure.’
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