It was a hard day’s night as the stars and crew filmed the biopic of The Beatles manager Brian Epstein.
The Queen’s Gambit co-star Jacob Fortune-Lloyd who plays the music entrepreneur was seen with fellow cast members on set for the first time since Midas Man was shut down mid-shoot in November.
The actor, 35, was seen getting into a classic car as Blackpool was transformed into swinging sixties Liverpool.
One of the shops was even given a makeover as the Prince of Pop family’s Liverpool shop, which sold furniture, musical instruments and household appliances.
Also spotted on location in the Lancashire resort were Phantom of the Open star Jonah Lees, 27, who plays John Lennon, and Peaky Blinders Adam Lawrence, 32, cast as the “Fifth Beatle” Pete Best.
Filming ran into trouble last year when Swedish director Jonas Åkerlund took a break and then quit last year.
It was thought other work commitments got in the way of the project and the multi-award winning filmmaker, who won a Grammy in 2014 for the Sir Paul McCartney concert film Live Kisses, later said he regretted “that things haven’t turned out as we had planned on Midas Man.”
He went on to “wish Jacob and the team the best with the film.”
Welsh director Sara Sugarman, whose work includes Disney’s The Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen starring Lindsay Lohan, then stepped in and said the actors playing The Beatles “ooze that very visceral feeling of the ‘60s, are charming, playful, and so authentic.”
The film which had been scheduled to be released this year charts the story of how Mr Epstein influenced the rise of the Fab Four after spotting them performing in the Merseyside city’s iconic Cavern Club.
The tagline for the film said: “On Thursday 9th of November 1961 a man named Brian descended the stairs to a cellar in Liverpool and changed the world forever.”
Beatlemania would go on to grip the world as Epstein handled their business affairs and also spotted further up-and-coming talent including Cilla Black until his death of an accidental overdose aged 32 in 1967.
The film also features Eddie Marsan and Emily Watson as Brain’s father Harry and his mother Malka “Queenie,” US TV host Jay Leno as Ed Sullivan and musician Blake Richardson plays Paul McCartney.
Writing in August 2021 to mark the anniversary of Brian’s death London-born Mr Fortune-Lloyd wrote: “Like to imagine him as an octogenarian, sipping scotch in his rocking chair.
“His death was a huge loss to the many friends and family who loved him. And a loss to the world of a sensitive, generous, and courageous human being.
“It’s a great privilege getting to know Brian. I hope we do him proud.”
Colchester-born Mr Lees posted pictures of him and his fellow actors rehearsing in Abbey Road in December 2021. He said that Lennon was “one of my biggest inspirations and idols not just as a song writer but as a human” and he had been “honoured and grateful to have been given the opportunity to portray one of my heroes.“
