Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. These four names live on in the memory of millions who, more than a half-a-decade later, still sing their songs. The Beatles are an empire of media that goes far beyond music: video clips, films, documentaries, museums, basically, a fantastic legacy of tunes that continue to move the world. Though the band's lifespan didn’t last for a decade, their prolific career keeps new generations hooked with every new release.
During the last ten years, most of their albums turned fifty, prompting remastered versions to be launched, all with extra material, alternative takes, and more fantastic content. However, their latest success was in the form of a documentary. The Beatles: Get Back saw the light by the end of 2021, a new twist on how the album Let it Be came to be, as well as the facts that ended up the mythical band’s breakup. Peter Jackson, the renowned director, watched +100 hours of Beatles footage while in Twickenham Studios in 1969 and re-edited it into a three-episode series that concludes with the iconic rooftop concert. Critically acclaimed, Get Back was probably the best movie about the band.
The three-part documentary series proved once more that The Beatles franchise is alive and well. Fans and newcomers are eager to see what else the Liverpool boys can share with the world. So the obvious question is "What's next?" Probably, the most accurate answer is a Yellow Submarine movie reboot. The 1968 cult classic film is the best choice for a modern remake after exactly 55 years, and here’s why.
There Was Already a Reboot Attempt
Back in the late 2000s/early 2010s, Disney started teasing a possible 3D-animated rendition of the Beatles’ psychedelic original. The company was in talks with none other than Robert Zemeckis, the award-winning director responsible for hits such as Back to the Future and Forrest Gump. Zemeckis was the right man for the job after producing visually-stunning films like The Polar Express. This type of animation used motion-capturing technology to animate movies. Disney was interested in bringing the yellow submarine to the 21st century with said technology, with Zemeckis leading the project.
The cast had no original Beatles providing their voices for obvious reasons. First and foremost, the original one didn’t count with voice acting from the band. Secondly, with two long gone and the other two busy with their solo careers, the production team behind the project had already picked four actors for the reboot. Peter Serafinowicz was cast for Sir Paul, while Cary Elwes and Adam Campbell would have lent their voices to George Harrison and Ringo Starr, respectively. To complete the cast, Dean Lennox Kelly would have portrayed the animated version of John Lennon. With an experienced director and carefully selected cast, the movie had everything to succeed.
The reboot was well on its way and was supposed to hit theaters by 2012, the year of the London Olympics. However, Zemeckis’ Christmas Carol’s poor box office performance plus Disney’s own flop, Mars needs moms (also produced by Zemeckis) ultimately shelved the project. Zemeckis lamented the cancelation but moved on. Leaked footage in 2021 gave new life to the remake’s resurrection rumors.
The Beatles’ Legacy Outlives Their Members
Nostalgia is a fundamental fuel of The Beatles' longevity. Yet, sadly, their members won’t last forever, and though their music won’t be forgotten, there will be a time when the world will be out of actual members of the band, sadly. Moreover, The Beatles is a brand in its own right, spawning all kinds of content. Back in 1968, the Yellow Submarine didn’t use the musicians’ voices due to less involvement from them in the project, but 2012’s failed reboot would have had different reasons for doing so.
In contrast, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney are alive and well, and oversee anything Beatles going on. For Harrison and Lennon, their widows play a big part in supervising these projects. It would be important that everything new gets green-lit by them, as was the case for Jackson’s Get Back. They already gave their thumbs up in 2012, and the remake’s cancelation came from the studio and not from them. When the time comes, and we have no more Beatles with us, every project done with their blessing but no direct involvement (that is, without them starring in it) will pave the way for anything produced afterward. In other words, the timing couldn’t be any better, as they remain popular, relevant, and in the capacity of approving content.
Last but not least, The Beatles gave us other movie renditions: A Hard Day’s Night, Help!, and Let it Be. While the latter was more of a documentary and the spiritual predecessor of Get Back, the first two were more features of their era. Band movies were popular back then, and although acting and scripts were not particularly memorable, they worked as promotional movies for the band. Yellow Submarine is different. This animated film was ground-breaking in many ways, with colorful imagery that awed audiences all around the world. The Beatles had already made animated appearances in video shorts, but Yellow Submarine went one step further and carried the band’s experimental aura that changed the world.
The moment could not be more convenient for a Yellow Submarine remake. The opportunity of them living on as animated characters is second-to-none, and there is a foreseeable future with The Beatles owning a psychedelic cinematic universe, with Starr and McCartney’s blessing. The four Liverpudlians will live forever, but they deserve the chance of having a different impact on newer generations.