House of Guinness star James Norton wins major role in the new Beatles movies
15 October 2025, 11:54
James Norton is the latest big name attached to The Beatles films.
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Not long after the massive announcement that Sam Mendes's unprecedented four Beatles films had found their Fab Four, the other casting news has been coming thick and fast in recent days.
First we learned that Irish-American actor Saoirse Ronan would play Linda McCartney. Then it emerged that Mia McKenna-Bruce would play Ringo Starr's wife Maureen Starkey.
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It was then reported that Anna Sawai and Aimee Lou Wood were being tapped to play Yoko Ono and Pattie Boyd, though they hadn't yet put pen to paper.
Now a major star has been cast in a crucial role. Deadline reports that James Norton will play The Beatles' manager Brian Epstein in all four of the biopics, and while Sony is yet to confirm the casting, it seems pretty set.
Norton is perhaps best known for his TV roles, with eye-catching turns in Happy Valley, Grantchester and McMafia.
He's currently turning heads as the roguish Sean Rafferty in Netflix historical drama House of Guinness., though his character there is a completely fictional construction.
Norton has also had more straightforward biopic experience on the big screen, playing legendary Island Records founder Chris Blackwell in 2024's Bob Marley: One Love.
Always in the conversation for the Fifth Beatle, Epstein met The Beatles in 1961 when he walked into a lunchtime show at the Cavern Club.
Despite having no previous experience doing it, he swiftly became their manager and played a key role in crafting their look and getting them signed to George Martin's Parlophone label, which was part of EMI.
The Beatles movies are all set for release in April 2028, and will star Harris Dickinson as John Lennon, Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney, Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr and Joseph Quinn as George Harrison.
