The Downton Abbey movie has forced Danny Boyle to bump up the release date of his much-anticipated Beatles musical. The director and his screenwriter Richard Curtis were planning to release their untitled new romantic comedy on 13 September (19), but now the Downton Abbey film has taken that spot. As a result, Boyle's new project, will open over two months early - in June (19). Little is known about Boyle's untitled musical comedy, other than it revolves around a man who discovers the Fab Four's songs have been wiped from history - and no one remembers the Beatles. Himesh Patel will star opposite U.S. comedienne Kate McKinnon and Ed Sheeran. The British singer/songwriter recently confirmed his casting, revealing he "learned to act" for the role, even though he plays himself. "It's very clever," Ed told the Associated Press when asked about Curtis' script. "I got to actually kind of learn how to act... This was, like, full days on set, like, full 12-hour days." In the film, Ed discovers Himesh's character and takes him on tour, only for the protege to eclipse his own fame. "They shot it around loads of my gigs," Ed added, "so it was a very intense two months. I would have four days of gigging and then three days of shooting a film. I was playing myself, so I don't think I was that bad. There wasn't much to (mess) up." Rather than clash with the Downton Abbey film - another big British release, Boyle's movie will now go up against the Tiffany Haddish/Rose Byrne comedy Limited Partners and James Mangold's Ford v. Ferrari, starring Christian Bale and Matt Damon, according to Deadline. Danny is now hard at work on the Working Title comedy after exiting the new James Bond movie following a falling out with producers.
