Ringo Starr Thinks Ed Sheeran Being Dropped From New Beatles Film, ‘Eight Days A Week,’ Improved It Dramatically

Ringo Starr has described director Ron Howard’s decision to leave Ed Sheeran’s section in the new Beatles film, Eight Days A Week, on the cutting room floor, as a blessing in disguise.

As the former voice of Thomas the Tank Engine, Ringo Starr is no stranger to controversy, but the Scouse stickman’s latest comments on the decision to snub Ed Sheeran from the new Beatles documentary would appear to some, as a cynically calculated ploy to wound the already fragile butterfly of the pop business.

Or maybe it was just Ringo’s applaudable attempt to put the brakes on the meteoric rise of a flame-haired songbird regarded by many as a busker sent from the mouths of hell to butcher our senses and destroy our sensibilities with the terrible power of mediocrity, and the cynical sham of bumbling earnestness.

Massive Beatles fan Sheeran was apparently bubbling over with excitement and as shaken as a well-shook can of soda at the thought of appearing as a massive talking head in Ron Howard’s latest project, The Beatles: Eight Days A Week.

And why wouldn’t he be? Like many other equally vapid and dreary pop stars of the new millennium, such as One Direction, for example, Ed is keen to associate himself with pop giants The Beatles in the hope that some of their reflected glory will rub off and help him shine on.

As an innovative and groundbreaking trendsetter himself, don’t laugh, Ed was invited to give his views on the legacy of the fab four for the new movie.

Whatever Ed said, it didn’t appear to go down too well with former Happy Days star Ron Howard, who decided to give Sheeran’s segment the chop.

A source told the Sun that Ed was gutted about being snubbed in such a fashion.

“Ed had recorded a segment for the film, but it failed to make the final cut along with a load of other talking heads by Ron who wanted to make more time for The Beatles themselves.

“Ron had to be ruthless, but Ed will be gutted. He’s crazy about The Beatles and has grown really close to Paul over the past couple of years, even introducing him to his dad.”

To make matter words, Ed’s exclusion will probably sting even more because although he didn’t make the grade, the likes of Whoopi Goldberg, Richard Curtis, and Elvis Costello all did. Oh, the humility!

After receiving rave reviews for his cameo in the new Bridget Jones movie, Ed probably thought he’d have a massive part to play in Eight Days A Week, but sadly not, his opinions on The Beatles were not considered particularly relevant or unique and have been consigned too oblivion by the powers that be.

To add insult to injury, Ringo Starr appeared to relish Sheeran’s snub when he chirped, “When we saw the first cut there were a lot of other people doing a lot of talking, which I believe he’s cut out now and it’s mainly me and Paul talking and it’s better.”

Eight Days A Week documents The Beatles’ life as a touring band between 1962 to 1966, and critics have said that “It’s fun, it’s exciting, and it will introduce many non- or casual Beatle fans to the idea that, for a brief but life-altering space of time, the Beatles weren’t just the greatest rock band in the world, they were one of the toughest and best of all time.”

The Guardian have described Eight Days A Week as Ron Howard’s trashing of “the idea that there’s nothing new to say about the Beatles with a revealing survey of the four-year odyssey that changed everything.”

They also praised the film for perfectly capturing how “in an age before social media, the Beatles could do and say almost anything they wanted to without it rebounding.”

“There is a lot of simple, moment-by-moment pleasure to be had here. Howard dishes up familiar archive footage but new material as well: in particular, their final performance in Candlestick Park, San Francisco. The Beatles’ cherubic faces are strangely compelling: they did indeed look like intergalactic creatures who found a home on our planet.”

More than any other band, The Beatles perfectly encapsulate the bouncy brashness and happy go lucky nature of the baby bomber generation, and by the same token maybe Ed Sheeran perfectly encapsulates the uniform blandness and self-pitying defeatism of the millennials.

With that in mind, it’s no wonder Ringo wanted to give him the chop.

[Featured Image by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]