Director Danny Boyle has championed some unique stories into films, including 28 Days Later, Slumdog Millionaire, and Trainspotting. His 2019 film Yesterdayfit into this grouping nicely, a very British story about a singer/songwriter named Jack, played by Himesh Patel (The Aeronauts), who encounters a miracle of sorts: a solar event that changes several aspects of the world. The key change? The world never knew a band called The Beatles. But the twist is only Jack can remember The Beatles. It’s a goodhearted drama with a dose of comedy and a bit of a love story. It’s also science fiction. Yesterday is now streaming on HBO Max, along with other digital streaming platforms.
A few big names are coming to theaters with throwbacks of a sort this summer, including Academy Award winner Anne Hathaway and Screen Actors Guild Award winner Lily James. This summer the second adaptation of the 1964 comedy Bedtime Story comes to theaters, followed by a comedic take on the alternate history genre featuring the music of The Beatles.
The Hustlefinds Hathaway taking on a role previously played by both David Niven and Michael Caine, with Rebel Wilson filling the shoes of a role played by both Marlon Brando and Steve Martin. Doctor Who and Veep’s Chris Addison directs The Hustle, remaking both 1988’s Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and 1964’s Bedtime Story. The comedy also stars Doctor Who‘s Osgood, Ingrid Oliver, and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs’Tim Blake Nelson, revisiting the story of a chance encounter between two con artists with strikingly different styles. It’s coming to theaters this May.
A month later Academy Award winning director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, 28 Days Later, Trainspotting) releases his next film, Yesterday, starring Himesh Patel(EastEnders) as a struggling singer who awakens one day to learn he is the only person that has ever heard of The Beatles and their music. This parallel universe divergence allows him to introduce and become famous today for all of The Beatles songs as his own, to not surprisingly huge success. Yesterday co-stars Lily James(Baby Driver, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Downton Abbey),Ana de Armas(Blade Runner 2049),James Corden (Doctor Who, Ocean’s 8), Ed Sheeran(The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug), and Kate McKinnon(Ghostbusters, Ferdinand).
Here are trailers for both The Hustle and Yesterday:
