'The Beatles' Quadrilogy Gets a Trio of Writers, Including 'Wolf Hall' Scribe

It remains to be seen whether the deeply ambitious project currently being called The Beatles—A Four Film Cinematic Event will actually be the big screen success Sony hopes it will be. (The deeply painful title certainly doesn't help, though we will just politely ignore that boardroom-ese nonsense and keep calling it The Beatles Quadrilogy.) But even if the idea of "binge model" film releases doesn't jive with audiences, the film's success won't be for lack of quality. First, director Sam Mendes cast three prominent up-and-coming British actors (and the dude from Baby Girl) as the Fab Four. Now he's hired three topline writers, two of whom are the best working in the U.K. today.

Of the hires, Jack Thorne is the only one with household name status, though that's as much due to penning the Harry Potter & the Cursed Child script as it is being the writer behind the most recent Netflix smash hit Adolescence. He's also been the writer behind all three Enola Holmes films, all three seasons of His Dark Materials, the recent miniseries Best Interests and Toxic Town, the upcoming Lord of the Flies remake, and the David Tennant-Toby Jones follow-up to Mr Bates vs the Post Office, The Hack.

However, PBS fans may recognize the name Peter Straughan. Sure, his recent film, Conclave, became the movie to watch in the wake of Pope Francis' passing, but Straughan's bonafides aren't just on the big screen. He's also the sole writer behind all 12 scripts for Wolf Hall and Wolf Hall: The Mirror & The Light, making him the get of Mendes' trio.