Trivia / Yesterday (2019)

• Approval of God: The surviving Beatles (Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr) and the widows of the deceased members (Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison) were made aware of the film prior to production and the premise met with their approval. Paul later said he snuck into a screening of the film and enjoyed it.
• Creator Backlash: Screenwriter Jack Barth created the original script based on his own unsuccessful attempts to break into screenwriting for decades, and intended for Jack to not have any success with his selling Beatles songs. Barth managed to sell his script, becoming one of the oldest first time screenwriters to get a script produced at the age of 62... and Richard Curtis promptly rewrote the whole thing and reduced Barth to a "Story By" credit. Naturally, Barth is not pleased with the finished film, especially since it gives a completely opposite moral to what he intended.
• Deleted Role:
  • Ana de Armas played a role as a rival Love Interest that was deleted from the final film, but can be glimpsed in some trailers. This was apparently because the role was originally conceived to make Jack look more unsympathetic, but test audiences already found Jack too unsympathetic. Two people actually sued Universal for "false advertising" because of this, as they had rented the film just because the trailers featured the actress.
• Fake Brit: Downplayed. Glaswegian actor Robert Carlyle cameos as an alternate universe version of Liverpudlian John Lennon.
• Fake Nationality:
  • Downplayed with Sarah Lancashire, a Lancashire native, putting on a Liverpool accent as Liz.
  • Played completely straight with Warwickshire native Justin Edwards, who plays Leo, the man from Moscow.
• International Coproduction: A British-American-Chinese-Japanese coproduction between Decibel Films (UK), Universal (US), Perfect World Pictures (China), and Toho (Japan).
• Missing Trailer Scene:
  • The trailer has an additional sequence from Jack's interview on The Late Late Show in which James Corden, wanting a demonstration of Jack's songwriting skills, challenges him to "write something" on the spot, leading Jack to perform "Something" from Abbey Road. The scene is also notable for featuring Ana de Armas in her Deleted Role.
  • In 2022 some fans filed a lawsuit, claiming to have been "tricked" into paying for the movie through Ana's presence in the trailer even though she had been removed from the film.
• Orphaned Reference: There's a comparison made to Coldplay's "Fix You" being the greatest song ever made by one of Jack's friends. This was less random when Chris Martin was meant to have a role in the film, in the role ultimately played by Ed Sheeran.
• Playing Against Type: Kate McKinnon, better known for her more comedic and heroic roles, plays a Corrupt Corporate Executive.
• Real-Life Relative: The flight attendant on Ed Sheeran's private jet is actually Sheeran's then-fiancee (now-wife) Cherry Seaborn. Also, Sanjeev Bhaskar and Meera Syal (Jed and Shelia Malik) are married in real life.
• Separated-at-Birth Casting: Jaimie Kollmer (young Ellie) bears a strong resemblance to Lily James.
• Uncredited Role: Per his request, Robert Carlyle went uncredited as John Lennon out of respect to the deceased singer and his family.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Ed Sheeran's role was originally meant for Chris Martin. A few Orphaned References to Coldplay were left in the film after the change.
  • In Jack Barth's original script, Jack didn't become much more successful thanks to the songs. This was changed to him becoming a worldwide sensation, and his love story with Ellie being emphasized too. Overall the story became Lighter and Softer.
  • There was going to be a scene where Jack encountered George Harrison and Ringo Starr in a pub. However, Boyle and Curtis decided that this would dilute the impact of Jack's meeting with John Lennon.
  • Curtis toyed with the idea of having the color purple not exist in the alternate reality but quickly abandoned the concept because it would have required far too much attention to detail (i.e. sets, costumes, etc.). The band Deep Purple would have been called "Deep Orange".
  • There would have been a Logo Joke with a more Beatlesque orchestration of Brian Tyler/Jerry Goldsmith's opening Universal logo music (complete with chamber orchestration, heavy piano, Ringo-ish drum fills and Harrison-esque guitar leads). This music cue made it to the soundtrack, but not the actual film.
• Working Title: Cover Version, All You Need and Jack Got Hit by a Bus.

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