A new Beatles biopic is coming as Peyton Reed is bringing the life of Brian Epstein to a theater near you, based on The New York Times best selling graphic novel, The Fifth Beatle, by Vivek J. Tiwary.
Epstein was the discoverer and manager of the legendary band The Beatles, a young visionary, who pulled a bunch of Liverpool misfits from a basement to the world stage, to become one of the most influential bands of all time. In the beginning Brian Epstein boasted, “The Beatles will be bigger than Elvis!,” and he was proven to be right.
According to the author, Brian lived a short, lonely life of adversity as a Jewish homosexual, living in conservative 60’s England, dying at the young age of 32, having wanted nothing more than to truly be seen as one of the boys.
In Vivek Tiwary’s words, “Brian Epstein was the flamboyant, brilliant, but troubled entertainment industry visionary best-known for discovering and managing The Beatles. His story will unfold via a mixture of history, fantasy, allegory, dream sequences, & hallucinations.”
Tiwary is fascinating in his own right, garnering 44 Tony nominations on Broadway, and winning 25 Tony awards, including Green Day’s American Idiot, and now a bestselling graphic novelist to boot.
I have high expectations of the film, projected to release in 2014, with an acclaimed subject, a best selling writer, the Academy Award winning producer Bruce Cohen (American Beauty, Milk, Silver lining Playbook), and the colorful direction of Peyton Reed, who brought us Down With Love, which was a fun homage to the 50’s film era, ala Pillow Talk, with Doris Day.
Reed speaking enthusiastically of the project said, “From the moment I read Vivek’s graphic novel, I knew I wanted to be the person to bring Brian’s story to the big screen. I’m a lifelong Beatles fan, obviously, but it’s Brian’s fascinating life that really blew me away and drew me to this project.”
With so much talent behind it, can it really go wrong? Even if you aren’t a fan of The Beatles themselves, it seems like this Beatles biopic will be a fascinating watch.
SOURCE: /Film