Universal has officially announced the title to “Slumdog Millionaire” director Danny Boyle’s musical comedy about The Beatles as “Yesterday.
The studio also released a trailer for the new film on Tuesday morning, confirming its release date as the previously announced June 28.
In “Yesterday,” Jack Malik (Himesh Patel from BBC’s “Eastenders”) is a struggling amateur musician in England wakes up after a freak bus accident and mysterious global blackout to discover that The Beatles never existed, no one has ever heard their songs — and John, Paul, George and Ringo are nobodies.
Even a Google search only reveals the bugs “beetles.” Apparently Coldplay are still really big, though.
Jack then sets out to replenish the world of Beatles songs, with the entire world believing that he wrote them and is now the greatest songwriter who ever lived. He’s even put on the spot by James Corden to “write” something completely new, so he “writes”… “Something.” But will he learn how to play bass left handed? And who’s his Yoko?
“Yesterday” comes from Boyle and Richard Curtis, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of “Love, Actually” and “Notting Hill.” It also stars Lily James, Kate McKinnon and Ed Sheeran as Jack’s record producers, with the latter recommending that Jack call his magnum opus song, “Hey Dude.” Brilliant.
The film also naturally features covers of classic Beatles’ hits. It’s produced by Working Title’s Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner alongside Matthew James Wilkinson and Bernie Bellew. Curtis and Boyle also produce. Nick Angel and Lee Brazier serve as executive producers.
Watch the trailer for “Yesterday” above.