The Beatles project ‘kept under wraps’ for months heads to the West End

First Queen, now the Beatles.

After the astounding success of We Will Rock You and MJ The Musical, talks are underway to transform the Beatles-themed movie Yesterday into a West End musical according to a source.

The 2019 hit movie starred British actor Himesh Patel as a struggling musician who suddenly finds himself as the only person who remembers the Fab Four and becomes famous performing their songs.

Speaking to Britain’s The Mirror, a source said screenwriter Richard Curtis and director Danny Boyle have already held talks with potential, investors including Andrew Lloyd Webber, and while the project has been “kept under wraps for months” the prospect of a Beatles musical is “too big to miss”.

“There was a performance this week to show the basics of what the production will be, and all the big players in London’s theatre world came along,” they said.

“It’s a no-brainer that any theatre will want to host it so there is likely to be a bit of a bidding war to secure it. These are the most famous songs of all time, so it could run and run.”

The source added that “it’s easy to imagine that it could play for years and years.”

It comes after Curtis admitted in a previous interview that he would not have been able to make the 2019 movie without the rights to the Beatles’ music.

Curtis said it was relatively easy getting permission as he negotiated directly with Sony and Apple record labels, rather than Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney.

“I think if they’d have said no, it would have been impossible,” he said.

“If we were doing a film about a serial killer who loves The Beatles, they might have said no, but it clearly is quite a pro-Beatles thing.”

While there’s no word on what the surviving members think about the stage musical, Ringo has issued favourable comments about previous projects before.

Earlier in the year, British director Sam Mendes revealed he will make four separate films on each member of the Beatles and Starr was particularly curious to see how Mendes will approach the project.

In response, the legendary drummer revealed he was “excited to see what he does with it.”

Ringo Starr was not an original member of the band and was hired to replace previous drummer Pete Best in 1962 following the band’s first recording session. His dynamic drumming style, which emphasised feel over virtuosity, influenced many drummers still to today.

– with BANG.