Screenwriter John Ridley to Write New Batman Comic Series

In this April 13, 2017, file photo, John Ridley poses at a ‘For Your Consideration’ event for the Showtime series at the Writers Guild of America in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP)
In this April 13, 2017, file photo, John Ridley poses at a ‘For Your Consideration’ event for the Showtime series at the Writers Guild of America in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP)
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Screenwriter John Ridley to Write New Batman Comic Series

In this April 13, 2017, file photo, John Ridley poses at a ‘For Your Consideration’ event for the Showtime series at the Writers Guild of America in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP)
In this April 13, 2017, file photo, John Ridley poses at a ‘For Your Consideration’ event for the Showtime series at the Writers Guild of America in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP)

John Ridley will write the new Batman comic series with plans of the Dark Knight being a person of color.

The Oscar-winning screenwriter and DC publisher Jim Lee announced plans for Ridley to write the miniseries during a DC FanDome virtual panel on Saturday. The four-issue comic is scheduled to release in January.

Ridley said the series will focus on the family of Lucius Fox, who is one of Bruce Wayne’s closest allies. Fox was also the president of Wayne Enterprises.

The panel revealed an illustration of a leaping Batman.

Ridley won an Academy Award for best adapted screenplay in 2013 for his work on “12 Years of Slave.”



Sony Reveals Cast for Four ‘Bingeable’ Movies about The Beatles

Paul Mescal, from left, Joseph Quinn, Barry Keoghan, and Harris Dickinson, cast members of the upcoming films about The Beatles, speak during the Sony Pictures presentation at CinemaCon on Monday, March 31, 2025, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. (AP)
Paul Mescal, from left, Joseph Quinn, Barry Keoghan, and Harris Dickinson, cast members of the upcoming films about The Beatles, speak during the Sony Pictures presentation at CinemaCon on Monday, March 31, 2025, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. (AP)
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Sony Reveals Cast for Four ‘Bingeable’ Movies about The Beatles

Paul Mescal, from left, Joseph Quinn, Barry Keoghan, and Harris Dickinson, cast members of the upcoming films about The Beatles, speak during the Sony Pictures presentation at CinemaCon on Monday, March 31, 2025, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. (AP)
Paul Mescal, from left, Joseph Quinn, Barry Keoghan, and Harris Dickinson, cast members of the upcoming films about The Beatles, speak during the Sony Pictures presentation at CinemaCon on Monday, March 31, 2025, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. (AP)

Sony Pictures said its big-screen story about The Beatles will be told through four films released in April 2028, each from the perspective of one of the Fab Four.

Director Sam Mendes also revealed the cast for the films on Monday at the CinemaCon industry convention in Las Vegas.

Paul Mescal will play Paul McCartney, Harris Dickinson will play John Lennon, Barry Keoghan will play Ringo Starr and Joseph Quinn will play George Harrison.

While the groundbreaking British band's rise to fame has been well-chronicled, "I can assure you there is still plenty left to explore," Mendes said on stage to an audience of theater owners.

The four films will be released "in proximity" to each other in April 2028, Mendes said, adding that Sony executive Tom Rothman described it as "the first bingeable theatrical experience."

"Frankly, we need big cinematic events to get people out of the house," said Mendes, who won an Oscar for directing "American Beauty."

Mescal starred in "Gladiator II" and "All of Us Strangers" and was nominated for an Oscar for "Aftersun." Keoghan received an Oscar nomination for "The Banshees of Inisherin."

Dickinson starred in "Babygirl," and Quinn appeared in "Gladiator II" and Netflix hit "Stranger Things."

The four actors appeared briefly on stage dressed in all black and bowed in unison, a hallmark of Beatles performances.

Sony titled the movies "The Beatles: A Four-Film Cinematic Event."

"We are going to dominate the culture that month," said Rothman, the CEO and chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment's Motion Picture Group.