Italian
Paul Mescal‘s next major project looks set to be Sam Mendes‘ much-discussed four-part biopic film series about The Beatles for Sony Pictures.
The casting — which was first rumoured in the summer — was brought up by Mescal’s “Gladiator 2” director Ridley Scott in a conversation with Christopher Nolan on Tuesday at the Directors Guild of America, in which he said “Paul is actually stacked up, doing the Beatles next.” Sources close the production have since confirmed to Variety that Scott wasn’t speaking out of turn and Mescal — while not officially signed up as yet — is indeed attached to the project.
Mescal is now widely expected to play Paul McCartney across four biopics Mendes is developing and will direct about the Fab Four, each focussing on a different band members and each being released theatrically. The project — being produced by Mendes’ All3Media-owned production company Neal Street — was first unveiled in February, but speculation about the casting broke several months later. Alongside Mescal as McCartney, Harris Dickinson was rumored to be playing John Lennon, Barry Keoghan was to play Ringo Starr and Charlie Rowe would portray George Harrison.
Two weeks ago, Starr himself seemed to confirm that Keoghan was playing him, claiming that he thought the Irish actor was “somewhere taking drum lessons, and I hope not too many.”
Popular on Variety Mescal’s casting, according to Scott at least, could well mean the two don’t collaborate together as had been planned. Last month Mescal was announced as starring in Scott’s new project, the thriller “The Dog Stars,” but the director suggested in his DGA talk on Tuesday that the scheduling might clash with “The Beatles” project. “So I have may have to let him go,” he said.
Mescal has a couple of upcoming films already shot and set to release in 2025, including “The History of Sound” alongside Josh O’Connor and “Hamnet” with Jessie Buckley. “Hamnet” is also being produced by Neal Street Productions.
