Fans who made Gladiator II one of the most buzzed about 2024 movies were probably hoping that star Paul Mescal and director Ridley Scott would reunite sooner rather than later. Well, there’s a bit of a situation when it comes to that very desire, as the pair were trying to line up their next collaboration for the near future. However, a scheduling snafu has made Mr. Mescal unavailable…leaving Euphoria’s Jacob Elordi with a chance to snag himself a potential win!
Per Variety’s reporting on the matter, the breakout star of projects like All Of Us Strangers and Normal People was the first choice to star in Scott’s post-apocalyptic drama The Dog Stars. However, Mescal might have to drop out due to an update to what we know about Sam Mendes’ Beatles biopics.
Apparently it’s rumored that Paul Mescal will be playing Paul McCartney in the four-picture anthology. Though based on the quotes cited from a recent Ridley Scott interview, he “may have to let him go,” which doesn’t sound like a definitive conflict just yet.
Based off of the 2012 novel of the same name by author Peter Heller, The Dog Stars may see Elordi playing the character of Hig in Scott’s proposed film. A pilot who will fight off marauders in a world ravaged by “a catastrophic flu virus that wipes out nearly all of humanity,” you can kind of see why the Gladiator II directing and acting team would consider it as a potential reunion.
This isn’t the first time that the Saltburn star, who’s slated to next be seen in Guillermo del Toro’s upcoming Frankenstein adaptation, has had such an interesting twist in fortune. Scheduling concerns were also present when Elordi replaced Andrew Garfield as Frankenstein’s Monster in the 2025 Netflix movie’s cast.
One last thing to keep in mind however is the fact that all involved in this talk surrounding The Dog Stars aren’t out of the woods when it comes to scheduling. Sir Ridley Scott’s directing duty on the long in-development Bee Gees biopic is the next project he’s gearing up for. Meanwhile, Jacob Elordi’s scheduling commitments include Euphoria Season 3 and the Margot Robbie starring adaptation of Wuthering Heights in the coming months.
As always, we’ll have to keep an eye on how The Dog Stars progresses through this latest stage of development, with another reminder to not get our hopes up either way. In the meantime, Gladiator II is currently showing in theaters and through PVOD rental, with its subscription streaming debut date still unknown at this point.
However, it can be heavily assumed that when the time comes, Ridley Scott and Paul Mescal’s blockbuster will be available for Paramount+ subscription holders when it debuts. It makes sense, as Paramount not only produced the film, but that’s the same venue you can stream the Russell Crowe classic that started it all, in honor of its 25th anniversary.