After months of rumors that Paul Mescal would play Paul McCartney in Sam Mendes’s quadrilogy of films about The Beatles, it looks like the news is confirmed. Director Ridley Scott, who just worked with Mescal on Gladiator II, told Christopher Nolan during a conversation at the DGA about what his most recent leading man is set to do next. “Paul is actually stacked up, doing the Beatles next,” Scott said.
Variety then found sources who confirmed that, while Mescal is not officially signed on to the project yet, he is attached to it. And, while we don’t know which Beatle he’s slated to play, he is widely expected to be taking on the role of Paul McCartney in Mendes’s films. The director is planning to make four films, each one focused on a different Beatle, but each of the four core members of the band would likely be featured in every film. In addition to Mescal as McCartnery, rumors suggest that Harris Dickinson would play John Lennon, Barry Keoghan will play Ringo Starr, and Charlie Rowe will play George Harrison.
Ringo himself seemed to confirm the casting news about Keoghan during an interview in November, saying that the actor was “somewhere taking drum lessons, and I hope not too many.”
Scott inadvertently broke the news that Mescal was attached to the project as he was explaining why he might not be able to work with the actor again for some time. The two were originally announced to be teaming up again for a thriller called The Dog Stars, but conflicts with The Beatles project might keep that from happening. Mescal is also set to star in The History of Sound and Hamnet, which are both expected to release in 2025.
