Peyton Reed will direct “The Fifth Beatle,” the film adaptation of the best-selling graphic novel chronicling the final years of the band’s founder and manager, Brian Epstein.
Producers Bruce Cohen (“Silver Linings Playbook”) and Tony-Award winner Vivek J. Tiwary (“Raisin in the Sun”), who authored the graphic novel and wrote the screenplay, made the announcement Wednesday.
The project is the first feature to secure music rights to the Beatles’ songs and the John Lennon/Paul McCartney songbook.
Also read: Beatles’ Troubled Manager Brian Epstein Subject of Tell-All Film
It is slated to begin production in 2014 and the casting of the Epstein role will begin now that Reed is on board.
Reed is a veteran director, whose big screen debut came in 2000 with the cheerleading sleeper hit “Bring It On,” which took in $90 million at the worldwide box office.
He followed that up with “Down With Love” and “The Break-Up,” the Vince Vaughn-Jennifer Aniston comedy that tallied $203 million in 2006. His most recent effort was the Jim Carrey comedy “Yes Man,” which brought in $225 million in 2008.
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