Los Angeles, Jan 8 (IANS): Hollywood actor Jacob Elordi is in talks to star in Ridley Scott‘s upcoming movie ‘The Dog Stars’ for 20th Century. The film is a post-apocalyptic thriller.

The actor is said to replace Paul Mescal, who ran into scheduling issues. Mescal, who stars in Scott’s ‘Gladiator’ sequel, had been poised to star in the film about a catastrophic flu virus that wipes out nearly all of humanity, reports ‘Variety’.

But he was forced to drop out due to filming Sam Mendes‘ Beatles anthology. The project is based on a 2012 novel by Peter Heller, with its screenplay written by Mark L. Smith, and is expected to be Scott’s next film after a Bee Gees biopic for Paramount.

As per ‘Variety’, if his deal closes, as is expected, Jacob Elordi would play a pilot named Hig who befriends a cranky gunman as they try to outlast a roaming band of scavengers called Reapers.

During a December conversation with fellow filmmaker Christopher Nolan that followed a ‘Gladiator II’ screening, Scott hinted that Mescal’s involvement in the project was precarious. “Paul is actually stacked up, doing the Beatles next. So I may have to let him go”, he told Nolan.

Mescal is rumored to be playing Paul McCartney. But Elordi, too, has a packed schedule, with both the final season of HBO’s ‘Euphoria’ and Warner Bros.’ ‘Wuthering Heights’ opposite Margot Robbie set to go into production in the first quarter of 2025. Scott is said to also be eyeing a spring 2025 start date, so it is unclear which of these productions, if any, push back in order for Elordi to commit to ‘Dog Stars’.

By working with Scott, Elordi continues his streak with A-list directors. The Australian actor, whose breakout role was in the Netflix movie ‘The Kissing Booth’, recently starred as Elvis in Sofia Coppola’s ‘Priscilla’.