Danny Boyle’s 2019 rom-com Yesterday took a fictionalised look at what the world would be like if The Beatles never existed, with a little bit of a love story thrown in for good measure
Himesh Patel as Jack Malik shares a scene with popstar Ed Sheeran(Image: Universal Pictures)
Danny Boyle’s 2019 rom-com Yesterday has been hailed as a fantastical tribute to The Beatles, featuring a screenplay by Richard Curtis and a shared story credit with Jack Barth.
The jukebox musical presents a whimsical yet fictional narrative, all the while offering an artistic salute to the iconic music group. The film’s producers reportedly shelled out nearly $10 million for the rights to The Beatles’ song collection. Although no surviving members or their relatives partook in the making of the film, Boyle has claimed he secured their blessings before commencing with the project.
Debuting at the Tribeca Film Festival in May 2019, Yesterday enjoyed its cinema release within the UK and the US in the following month. The romantic musical comedy reaped a global box-office haul of $155 million, surpassing its production budget of $26 million.
Boyle’s cinematic piece features an almost unrecognisable EastEnders actor Himesh Patel as the hero protagonist, with Lily James, Joel Fry, Ed Sheeran, and Kate McKinnon in supportive roles. Reports suggest that Boyle was persuaded of Patel’s fit for the role after hearing his renditions of Beatles hits Yesterday and Back in the U.S.S.R. at the auditions, reports Surrey Live.
During his appearance on BBC Radio 1’s Kids Ask Difficult Questions segment, cast member Ed Sheeran divulged that he wasn’t the first pick for his character, sharing: “They asked Chris Martin, he said no, they asked Harry Styles, he said no, and I was third choice.”
Jack (Himesh Patel) with Ed Sheeran, who plays himself in Yesterday
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He remarked: “Yesterday was funny though because Richard Curtis wrote it and he lives in Suffolk and he knows me and my wife very well. And If you look at that movie, the premise is a bloke who gets really, really, really famous round the world, and it’s a bit unbelievable that he got really, really famous round the world…[he] comes from Suffolk… so there are all these factors in it where I was like, has he sort of written this about me? Anyway, they asked Chris Martin, he said no, they asked Harry Styles, he said no and I was third choice. That is 100% true.”
A critique in Vanity Fair of the film read: “Ultimately, Yesterday is a victim of the amnesia it inflicts upon its characters.” Whilst another reviewer commented: “The structure is a mess. The characters are plastic. And the lines are Seventies sitcom bad.”
In conversation with Billboard, Paul McCartney revealed that he and his wife, Nancy Shevell, went to see the film in a cinema in The Hamptons and “loved it.” Moreover, director Danny Boyle made sure to send copies of the final reel to Ringo Starr and his spouse, Barbara, as well as George Harrison’s widow, Olivia, who both returned “lovely messages” Yoko Ono, widow of John Lennon, also signaled her blessing for the depiction of her late husband in the picture.
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Yesterday managed to resonate soundly with its audience and garnered predominantly affirmative critiques. One viewer enthused: “Genuinely wonderful and heartfelt piece of what is actually science fiction. Left me wanting more and moved.” Meanwhile, another enthusiast gushed: “One of my favourite movies of all time… Lily James and Himesh Patel are charming together, and with the Beatles soundtrack, the movie is a joy! Ed Sheeran and Kate McKinnon seamlessly come in and out of the story, and for those of us around in the sixties, the movie strikes a chord. A must see!”.
A different filmgoer shared: “Brilliant from start to finish! Some classic lines. Directed by Danny Boyle with the Richard Curtis magic touch….what more could you ask for….Ed Sheeran makes a good stab at acting too.” An additional comment from a viewer was: “Interesting concept and it was great to see it play out in this rom-com. Glad it was not a standard biopic and had its own story idea.”
