A BIG-SCREEN movie adaptation of a graphic novel about Beatles manager Brian Epstein is in the works.

The film will be based on producer Vivek J Tiwary’s comic book, The Fifth Beatle, which was recently presented at New York Comic Con.

Producers said the project would mark the first time a feature film about the band had secured rights to include Beatles songs.

New York-based Mr Tiwary signed the deal with Sony/ATV, which controls the John Lennon/Paul McCartney music catalogue.

The writer, whose Broadway productions include The Addams Family and Green Day’s American Idiot, said it was a major coup to have unprecedented access to Fab Four tracks for the film.

Mr Tiwary said: "This is a true labour of love for me. My interest in the Brian Epstein story began almost 20 years ago, when I decided music management was the area of the entertainment industry that I first wanted to pursue.

"I was a lifelong Beatles fan so I thought if I was going to manage bands then I should study the management of the Beatles that had written the rule book of the modern music industry.

"It was very difficult to find information about the man who made the Beatles, which is part of why I want to bring this story to the world.

"What I unearthed after much research was not just an inspirational business story and blueprint for what I wanted to accomplish with my career, but also a very human story."