The Beatles’ Final Years Subject Of New Film ‘The Longest Cocktail Party’

The story of the Beatles and Apple Records is headed for the big screen thanks to filmmaker Michael Winterbottom, who was responsible for the 2002 music industry cult classic '24 Hour Party People.'

'The Longest Cocktail Party' will focus on the brief but important period between the founding of Apple Records until the final Beatles recording sessions for 'Let It Be.' Based on Richard DiLello's book, the title references the hey days of Apple Records, when entertaining guests in lavish style was a common practice and one that helped lead to the company's downfall.

Winterbottom was very successful at capturing the late '80s / early '90s rise and fall of Factory Records and the Manchester music scene with '24 Hour Party People,' so expectations are especially high for this Beatles biopic. So much so, that major Beatles fan Liam Gallagher (Oasis, Beady Eye) has signed on as a producer.

As reported in The Guardian, Gallagher talked to Xan Brooks at the Cannes film festival earlier this year and suggests that it's less of a film about the Beatles than a behind-the-scenes look at the folks who worked at Apple.

"The Beatles ain't gonna be in this film. There's gonna be no-one auditioning for John, Paul, George, Ringo, and there's gonna be no wigs," Gallagher said. "I think that's where these Beatles films have gone wrong." The singer added that his new band, Beady Eye, would most likely contribute the soundtrack. "We can recreate that sound like that," he said.

Gallagher is especially keen for his old pal Johnny Depp to play Derek Taylor (the main character and press officer), but co-producer Andrew Eaton isn't quite as hopeful that the American actor would be the best choice for Taylor's character. "There are other parts he could do, but whether he could be Derek...I don't know."