Peyton Reed to Direct 'The Fifth Beatle'

How is it that Peyton Reed isn't one of the busiest directors around? His first film right out of the gate is considered a classic (or a guilty pleasure, take your pick), the Kirsten Dunst cheerleader comedy Bring It On, followed up by the screwball comedy Down with Love and The Break-Up. But he hasn't made a feature film since 2008's Jim Carrey comedy Yes Man, a $200M-grosser which should have led to bigger things. Fortunately, he's landed a new gig on a project that seems tailor made just for him.

Reed will direct The Fifth Beatle, based on Vivek Tiwary and artist Andrew Robinson's graphic novel about Brian Epstein, The Beetles' longtime manager.  Tiwary will write the screenplay and he's apparently secured the music rights to the entire John Lennon/Paul McCartney catalog, which is a pretty big deal. Capturing the style of the 1960s should be no problem for Reed and hopefully this will earn him the recognition he deserves. Next comes the crucial task of casting The Beatles and Epstein, the latter having led a life in the spotlight while keeping many things secret to the public.

Filming is due to begin some time in 2014. Check out the synopsis below.

THE FIFTH BEATLE recounts the untold true story of Epstein, the brilliant visionary who discovered The Beatles and helped guide the band to international stardom as their manager, securing their first record deal at a time when no one else was interested, and successfully bringing them to the world stage with a scale and scope no music impresario had ever attempted. Epstein’s boast – “The Beatles will be bigger than Elvis!” – seemed absurd in 1961, but proved humbly prophetic by 1967. When he died at the age of 32, he was an extremely successful artist manager and entertainment impresario, but a painfully lonely young man.