Danny Boyle Imagines A World Without The Beatles In ‘Yesterday’ Trailer

Two of Britain’s biggest filmmakers Danny Boyle (Trainspotting) and Richard Curtis (Love Actually) have partnered up on a new musical comedy about a man who wakes up and is the only one to remember The Beatles.

Aptly titled Yesterday, the film stars newcomer Himesh Patel as Jack Malik, a struggling singer-songwriter who gets hit by a car and wakes up in a world where the Beatles never existed.

When he casually plays ‘Yesterday’ on his guitar, his friends stare in amazement and suddenly he becomes a global star overnight. Even a Google search yields only pictures of insects. Naturally there are some romcom elements with Curtis in the mix, with Lily James playing Ellie, Jack’s friend who gets neglected during his rapid ascent to fame.

The trailer also features some surprising cameos including Ed Sheeran who gamely suggests the alternative title of ‘Hey Dude’ and gets some light ribbing for his “rapping” skills. James Corden also makes an appearance as himself, and SNL veteran Kate McKinnon plays a Hollywood bigwig who offers fame and fortune. The cast also includes Cuban actress Ana de Armas (Bladerunner) , comedian Lamorne Morris (New Girl) and Joel Fry.

Leave it to Boyle and Curtis to take something familiar as Beatlemania and completely flip it on its head with a sci-fi twist. At the end of the day it’s still a musical comedy and begs the question, how would the music of the Beatles resonate if released today?

Yesterday follow’s Boyle’s last feature film, 2017’s Trainspotting sequel, T2: Trainspotting, while Curtis is fresh off writing another sequel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.

Patel may be familiar to UK audiences as a series regular on Eastenders, but Yesterday is poised to make him an international talent.

Yesterday is set to hit theatres on 28 June 2019.

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Format: UK English