Ringo Starr Wants ‘Every Idea’ For His Upcoming Beatles Biopic Run by Him For Approval (Exclusive)

Ringo Starr is cooperating with director Sam Mendes and his team on the upcoming four-part Beatles biopic, but a source exclusively tells Examiner that he’s being extremely uptight and micro-managerial about certain aspects of his life – especially regarding how much he partied back in the day.

“Some early concepts around what exactly the Ringo Starr-focused movie would cover leaned into Ringo’s hard partying during the height of the Beatles success,” the source says. “He loved being famous more than the other three guys – that’s a matter of historical record. Even with the casting of Barry Keoghan, you see a perfect fit with that kind of ‘wild man’ rock star portrayal.”

However, the source adds that with Starr’s “considerable input,” the ideas have evolved and filmmakers are trying to “unearth stories and moments from his years in the band that fans haven’t heard a million times before.”

“It’s all getting special attention from Sam and his team because they want all four films to be great and to be essential viewing for global audiences,” the source continues, “and Ringo has been generous with his own time in a way that Paul McCartney, who has his own control freak tendencies, simply can’t because he’s been working a lot this year.”

The source notes that McCartney, 83, is simply “trusting the filmmakers to handle his story with care,” but Starr, 85, has been taking a much more hands-on approach.

“As annoying as it can be to have to run every idea by Ringo itself, you do sympathize with the guy, and Barry is determined not to make his life story into a joke or a silly gimmick,” the source says. “If this is going to be a profitable enterprise, the Ringo film has to be every bit an equal to the films about John Lennon, Paul and George Harrison.”