How the film “Yesterday” was able to use so much of The Beatles music
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The film </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Yesterday</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> goes into the story about how a struggling songwriter is losing his passion for music and he gets hit by a bus. Upon awakening, he realises that he is the only one in the world who knows who The Beatles are and uses their discography to rise to fame.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, many people were surprised that the film managed to get some of the most recognisable songs from the band into the film. Surely, that would’ve cost a fortune.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Danny Boyle, the film’s director, had a plan.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The production company behind the film had a deal with Apple and Sony which allowed screenwriter Richard Curtis and Boyle to choose up to 18 songs and even switch their picks when they were shooting and editing the film.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After all, there’s no point having a joke hinge off a niche Beatles song. The audience won’t get it.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Curtis explained this to </span><a href="https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-yesterday-beatles-songs-20190707-gehxkurakngldohru2waj3o4hu-story.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">NY Daily News</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">:</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“For the jokes to work it has to be songs people recognize… if Jack sat down at the piano in that Ed Sheeran scene and plays “</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Not a Second Time</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">,” most people won’t know it’s the Beatles.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The scene in question is where the main character of the film is working with Ed Sheeran and singing “</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Hey Jude</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">”. Sheeran has a brainwave and suggests changing it to “Hey Dude”.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Boyle told </span><a href="https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/8512779/danny-boyle-yesterday-the-beatles-interview"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Billboard</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> what happened when they obtained the rights.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Apple and Sony are very picky about not only who uses the band’s music but how it is used. Working Title did that first because there’s no point in spending money on a film like </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Yesterday</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> unless you can guarantee you’ve got the music. It made for a top-heavy budget -- the costs for the songs were very expensive, a substantial part of the film’s budget. But they made a clever deal, allowing us the freedom to change songs up to the last minute.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Billboard estimated that it cost $10 million for the songs to be featured in </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Yesterday</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">. However, Boyle also did his due diligence and reached out to Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and the widows of George Harrison and John Lennon about his intentions for the film.</span></p>
