Gladiator II director Ridley Scott appeared to confirm a longstanding film-industry rumour that Paul Mescal will play Paul McCartney in the four-film Beatles biopic announced by Sam Mendes earlier this year.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Scott let slip the information during an on-stage conversation with Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan after a screening of Gladiator II in Los Angeles. Nolan asked Scott if Mescal, lead actor in Gladiator II, would appear in Scott’s next film, post-apocalyptic thriller The Dog Stars, adapted from a novel by Peter Heller. Scott replied: “Maybe. Paul is actually stacked up, doing the Beatles next. So I may have to let him go.”

Scott did not refer to which Beatle Mescal might play, but the common consensus is that his resemblance to McCartney would make him a prime candidate for the role. In a recent red carpet interview with Entertainment Tonight, Mescal diplomatically said: “It would be an incredible story to be attached to … The fact that Sam Mendes is attached to direct, like truly, it would be a dream come true.” When asked if he was going to play McCartney, he replied: “We’re not going there!”

Mendes announced that his mammoth four-part project, with each Beatle getting their own feature film, was being produced with the full co-operation of McCartney and Ringo Starr, along with the heirs of George Harrison and John Lennon’s estates. Little official information has been forthcoming, though Starr recently suggested that Saltburn’s Barry Keoghan had been cast to play him, saying: “I believe he’s somewhere taking drum lessons, and I hope not too many.”

The films are due for release from 2027.