Richard Curtis says 'Yesterday' is Ed Sheeran's story

Filmmaker Richard Curtis says his upcoming musical comedy "Yesterday" is "really about" singer Ed Sheeran.

The writer's latest offering follows Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) who awakes from a blackout to discover he is the only person to know the music by legendary rock band The Beatles.

"In a way, the film is really about Ed. Ed was from round where we live in Suffolk and couldn't be a more normal and delightful fellow.

"His girlfriend is somebody he went to school with, which is what the film is about," Curtis told Empire magazine.

The writer, famous for rom-coms such as "Four Weddings and a Funeral", "Notting Hill", and "Love Actually", believes giving Sheeran a cameo in the movie was "best casting" because his own life has been similar to that of the central character.

"It is a gimmicky cameo and in a way it is the best casting possible because he is almost the lead character," Curtis said.

The film, directed by Danny Boyle, features Patel as a struggling singer-songwriter in a tiny English seaside town whose dreams of fame are rapidly fading, despite the support of his childhood best friend, played by Lily James.

After a freak accident during a mysterious global blackout, he wakes up to discover that The Beatles have never existed. Kate McKinnon also stars in the movie.

"Yesterday" will close Tribeca Film Festival on May 4.