Ananova:

Leonardo DiCaprio is reportedly battling it out with Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal to star in Sam Mendes' latest film.

According to Teenhollywood the three Hollywood actors are keen to play the lead role in the director's new movie, which is set during the first Gulf War.

The film, Jarheads, will be based on Gulf War veteran Anthony Swofford's account of his service with an elite US Marines sniper unit and filming will start in the autumn.

But Mendes - who has won two Oscars - played down the interest shown from the three stars.

He said: "It's not necessarily going to be all stars and I think you may find a new generation of actors coming through."

Mendes, who is married to Kate Winslet, said he wanted to make a war film as he feels it is "incredibly relevant" because of the current Iraq conflict.

He said: "The names Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, Saddam Hussein and George Bush are studded through Swofford's book and you can't be unaware that some things haven't changed.

"You become aware that it's both specific and universal and it's not just about the first Gulf War, but wars that have gone before."