Pictures of the stars of Sam Mendes’ forthcoming four-part Beatles film in character as the musicians have been published, offering a first look at the actors in costume.

The pictures were released in postcard form at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, the school co-founded by Paul McCartney which occupies the premises formerly occupied by the Liverpool Institute High School for Boys, where both McCartney and future bandmate George Harrison were pupils.

Paul Mescal, as McCartney, is in a suit and haircut from the band’s early years, and appears to be in a representation of the Cavern Club. Harris Dickinson’s John Lennon is in the round “granny specs” that Lennon adopted permanently after wearing them to shoot Richard Lester’s 1967 film How I Won the War. Barry Keoghan, as Ringo Starr, sports a pirate-style beard and polka dot shirt and Joseph Quinn’s Harrison has the long hair and beard that the musician adopted towards the end of the band’s existence.

The school said it had hidden the numbered, limited edition postcards around its buildings, and asked its students to find them.

Mendes announced the project, currently titled The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event, in 2024, and all four films are due for release in April 2028.