Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle’s Yesterday will world premiere as the closing night film of the Tribeca Film Festival’s 18th edition.

The rock-n-roll comedy, Yesterday, follows Jack Malik (Himesh Patel, BBC’s Eastenders), a struggling singer-songwriter in a tiny English seaside town whose dreams of fame are rapidly fading, despite the fierce devotion and support of his childhood best friend, Ellie (Lily James, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again). Then, after a freak bus accident during a mysterious global blackout, Jack wakes up to discover that The Beatles have never existed … and he finds himself with a very complicated problem, indeed. The film stars Himesh Patel, Lily James, Kate McKinnon, and Ed Sheeran.

“This isn’t a time travel movie but it feels like introducing the Beatles music to America for the first time-again,” Danny Boyle says. “Absolutely delighted that our film has been chosen to be the closing film of the Tribeca Film Festival. A great honor in a great city.”

This year’s Gala Anniversaries, will include a never-before-seen restored version of Francis Ford Coppola’s cinematic masterpiece, Apocalypse Now, and the 30th anniversary and cast reunion of the iconic ‘80s coming-of-age film Say Anything… There will be additional Galas with the world premiere of Between Me and My Mind about Phish lead singer Trey Anastasio, followed by a special musical performance by the Trey Anastasio Band at the Beacon Theatre, as well as Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival opener The Good, The Bad, The Hungry.

The previously announced 25th anniversary of Reality Bites will now bring together director Ben Stiller, writer Helen Childress, with cast including Ethan Hawke, Winona Ryder, Janeane Garofalo, Steve Zahn, and more surprise guests from the film. These film anniversaries and reunions are completed by the 35th anniversary of This Is Spinal Tap. In addition, Tribeca will give audiences a chance to see Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977) on the big screen with a free family event on ‘Star Wars Day’ – May the 4th Be with You.

The film selections for Closing Night, Galas, Anniversary selections and the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival Gala are as follows:

CLOSING NIGHT

Yesterday, directed by Danny Boyle, screenplay by Richard Curtis, story by Jack Barth and Richard Curtis, produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Bernie Bellew, Matthew James Wilkinson, Richard Curtis, Danny Boyle. (UK) – World Premiere.

Yesterday, everyone knew The Beatles. Today, only Jack remembers their songs. He’s about to become a very big deal. From Academy Award®-winning director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, Trainspotting, 28 Days Later) and Richard Curtis, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of Four Weddings and a Funeral, Love Actually and Notting Hill, comes a rock-n-roll comedy about music, dreams, friendship, and the long and winding road that leads to the love of your life.

Jack Malik (Himesh Patel, BBC’s Eastenders) is a struggling singer-songwriter in a tiny English seaside town whose dreams of fame are rapidly fading, despite the fierce devotion and support of his childhood best friend, Ellie (Lily James, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again). Then, after a freak bus accident during a mysterious global blackout, Jack wakes up to discover that The Beatles have never existed … and he finds himself with a very complicated problem, indeed.

Performing songs by the greatest band in history to a world that has never heard them, and with a little help from his steel-hearted American agent, Debra (Emmy winner Kate McKinnon), Jack’s fame explodes. But as his star rises, he risks losing Ellie — the one person who always believed in him. With the door between his old life and his new closing, Jack will need to get back to where he once belonged and prove that all you need is love. A Universal Pictures release.

GALA

Between Me and My Mind, directed by Steven Cantor. Produced by Jamie Schutz. (USA) – World Premiere, Feature Documentary. Driven by a constant need to create, Phish frontman Trey Anastasio takes on new projects, including some of his most personal music to date as well as Phish’s ambitious New Year’s Eve show at Madison Square Garden

ANNIVERSARIES 

Apocalypse Now – 40th Anniversary & Restoration

Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now will celebrate its 40th Anniversary at the Festival with a screening of a new, never-before-seen restored version of the film, entitled Apocalypse Now: Final Cut. Remastered from the original negative in 4K Ultra HD, the film will be brought to life with Dolby Vision® and Dolby Atmos®, delivering spectacular colors and highlights that are up to 40 times brighter and blacks that are 10 times darker, and Dolby Atmos, producing moving audio that flows all around you with breathtaking realism. The Beacon Theatre will also be outfitted for this exclusive occasion with Meyer VLFC (Very Low Frequency Control), a ground-breaking loudspeaker system engineered to output audio frequencies below the limits of human hearing, giving the audience a truly visceral experience. 

Nominated for eight Academy Awards®, Francis Ford Coppola’s stunning vision of the heart of darkness in all of us remains a classic and compelling Vietnam War epic. Martin Sheen stars as Army Captain Willard, a troubled man sent on a dangerous and mesmerizing odyssey into Cambodia to assassinate a renegade American Colonel named Kurtz (Marlon Brando), who has succumbed to the horrors of war and barricaded himself in a remote outpost. [Released August 15, 1979]

Say Anything… – 30th Anniversary

Thirty years ago, Cameron Crowe shifted the landscape of romantic comedies with his remarkable and deeply felt debut that chronicled, with tender and warm-hearted authenticity, a vivid tale of first love. Charting the blooming romance between recent high-school graduates Lloyd (John Cusack) and Diane (Ione Sky), Crowe gave audiences one of cinema’s most indelible and enduring romantic movie moments: a lovesick boy, standing outside a girl’s window, asking her to love him with the help of Peter Gabriel and a boombox. Three decades later, Say Anything… continues to give off the affectionate, enveloping glow of first love. [Released April 1, 1989]

Reality Bites – 25th Anniversary 

Winona Ryder and Ethan Hawke star in Ben Stiller’s 1994 feature film directorial debut, the iconic comedy-drama that defined a generation of independent moviegoing-and-moviegoers with its achingly-relatable portrait of early 90’s disaffected youth struggling to live and love amid the brutal reality of (almost) adulthood.

In the film, written by Helen Childress, Lelaina Pierce (Ryder) navigates her post-college disillusionment by turning the camera on her friends: the free-spirited Vickie (Janeane Garofalo); Sammy (Steve Zahn), struggling to come out to his conservative parents; and the passionate but direction-less Troy (Hawke), with whom Lelaina is romantically-entwined until video executive Michael (Stiller, who co-stars) arrives with the promise of both budding romance and the chance for Lelaina to cash in on her dreams—but at what expense?

Reality Bites may have been for and about Generation X, but has proven itself a timeless, decades-spanning classic. [Released February 18, 1994]

This Is Spinal Tap – 35th Anniversary

Spinal Tap is the loudest band in England and they’re making a comeback with a North American tour promoting their new album “Smell the Glove.” Marty DiBergi (Rob Reiner) sets out to make a documentary of the legendary rock band’s exploits on the road, featuring front men Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest) and David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean) and bassist Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer), bearing witness to the highs and lows of what makes a musician into a rock star. [Released March 2, 1984]