Yesterday (2019 film)

Jack Malik is a struggling singer-songwriter from Lowestoft. His manager and childhood friend Ellie Appleton encourages him not to give up on his dreams. During a global blackout, Jack is hit by a bus. After recovering, he sings the Beatles song "Yesterday" for his friends, and discovers they have never heard of the Beatles. After realising no one in the world remembers them, Jack begins performing Beatles songs, passing them off as his own.

Ellie has Jack record a demo with a local music producer, Gavin. While recording day and night in Gavin's recording room, Malik published and gave out his album to every customer he sees back at Lowestoft. Following a performance on local television, Jack is invited by pop star Ed Sheeran to play as his opening act in Moscow. Ellie declines to join him, saying she must work at her day job as a schoolteacher, so Jack's roadie friend Rocky travels with him instead. After the gig, Sheeran challenges Jack to a songwriting duel; he loses to Jack's "The Long and Winding Road". In Los Angeles, Sheeran's ruthless manager Debra Hammer signs him to her label and engineers his rise to global fame.

At Jack's going-away party, Ellie confesses that she has always been in love with him. Jack goes back to Los Angeles and starts recording the album at EastWest Studios, but cannot remember the lyrics for the song he was trying to "write," "Eleanor Rigby." Hoping to trigger memories, Jack goes to the Beatles' hometown of Liverpool, visiting landmarks such as Strawberry Field, Penny Lane, and the grave of Eleanor Rigby. Ellie joins him in Liverpool, and they spend a drunken evening and kiss, but Ellie tells him she is not interested in a one-night stand. The next morning, Jack and Rocky pursue Ellie to the train station, where she congratulates Jack but tells him she cannot be a part of his celebrity life. Jack returns to Los Angeles, heartbroken; Ellie begins dating Gavin.

The record label prepares to launch Jack's debut album. The producers reject his suggested titles, taken from Beatles records, and name the album One Man Only, pushing his talent. Jack persuades them to launch the album with a rooftop concert in Gorleston-on-Sea. Backstage, two fans approach him and tell him they know he plagiarised the songs, but thank him, having feared the Beatles' music was gone forever. They give him the address of John Lennon, who has survived into old age, out of the public spotlight. John, who has lived a happy life with his wife, advises Jack to pursue the one he loves and always tell the truth.

Sheeran arranges for Jack to perform at Wembley Stadium. Jack confesses to the crowd that he plagiarised the music and that he loves Ellie, and has Rocky upload the songs free to the internet, sabotaging the record release, much to Debra’s anger. Jack and Ellie marry and have a family together, and Jack becomes a music teacher.

In addition, James Corden (hosting his show) and Michael Kiwanuka (waiting for Rocky to bring guitar) appear as themselves, Justin Edwards plays Leo (the Russian stranger who remembers the Beatles), and Robert Carlyle makes an uncredited appearance as John Lennon.[7]

The film began as an original screenplay called Cover Version, by writer Jack Barth and actor-writer-director Mackenzie Crook, with Crook intending to direct the film.[8][9][3] A few years later, after Crook had dropped out due to other commitments, the story was pitched to writer-director Richard Curtis, who loved the idea but wanted to write his own script for it. Whereas in Cover Version, the lead character achieves only moderate success with the Beatles songs, Curtis's lead character becomes the world's most celebrated singer-songwriter. Curtis also shifted focus onto the love story between the male and female leads.

In March 2018, it was announced that director Danny Boyle and writer Richard Curtis were working together on a musical comedy that would be set in the 1960s or 1970s and centre on "a struggling musician who thinks he's the only person who can remember The Beatles" with Himesh Patel cast in the lead role.[10] Ed Sheeran's supporting role was originally intended for Chris Martin, who turned it down.[11] For the lead role, Patel was selected from the many actors who auditioned, with Boyle convinced Patel was the right choice after listening to him perform "Yesterday" and "Back in the U.S.S.R." during auditions.[12] Boyle felt that Patel's voice had soul; Sheeran agreed.[11] In addition to acting, the Beatles cover songs in the film are sung by Patel, who also plays the guitar and piano.[13]

Later in March 2018, Lily James and Kate McKinnon joined the cast.[14][15] Boyle informed the surviving members and widows of the band about the film and received a reply he described as "lovely" from Beatles drummer Ringo Starr.[16] In April 2018, it was revealed that Ed Sheeran had joined the cast and would potentially also write new music for the film, which would also include Beatles songs.[17][18] Later that month, Ana de Armas and Lamorne Morris had also joined the cast.[19][20] In May 2018, Sophia Di Martino, Joel Fry and Harry Michell joined.[21]

Filming began on 21 April 2018,[22] with production in the United Kingdom starting on 26 April 2018, with scenes filmed all around Suffolk in Cantley, Halesworth, Dunwich, Shingle Street, Latitude Festival and Clacton-on-Sea, Essex.[23] A casting call was issued for extras in overnight scenes shot immediately after Sheeran's four consecutive concerts at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales in May 2018.[24] A further 5,000 extras appeared in scenes at Gorleston-on-Sea Beach in Norfolk in June 2018.[25] Wembley Stadium was also used to film a concert scene.[16] Filming also took place in Liverpool, making use of Penny Lane, Liverpool John Lennon Airport, Lime Street Station and the Queensway Tunnel.[26]

In February 2019, it was announced that the title of the film was Yesterday.[27] It is estimated to have cost around $10 million to get the rights for the Beatles' songs to be featured in the film, with the rights to their music being held by Apple Records and Sony/ATV Music Publishing.[28] Scenes with de Armas, who played another love interest for Jack, were cut as test audiences felt it made Jack less sympathetic.[29]

Yesterday was initially set for a September 2019 release, but was moved up to 28 June 2019, largely as a result of a copyright suit filed by Paul McCartney. The rights to some of the earlier Beatles songs used in the film would revert back to McCartney in the autumn of 2019, and Sony Music wanted to get ahead of it.[30]

The first official trailer of the film was released on 12 February 2019.[31] The film had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on 4 May 2019.[32] A local screening of the film took place at the Gorleston Palace cinema on 21 June 2019.[33]

• Blinded by the Light, a 2019 British comedy-drama about an aspiring writer inspired by the songs of Bruce Springsteen.
• Isekai, a Japanese fantasy subgenre where a normal person gets transported to another world.
• Mandela effect
• Parallel universes in fiction

• Official website
• Yesterday on IMDb
• Yesterday at Rotten Tomatoes