Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio may be set to make their seventh film together, as the director-actor duo is in talks to respectively direct and star in an adaptation of Erik Larson’s “Devil in the White City” for Disney’s 20th Century Studios, a project that the Oscar winners have wanted to make for years.
Scorsese and DiCaprio would also produce the project through Scorsese’s Sikelia Productions and DiCaprio’s Appian Way Productions. DiCaprio first acquired the rights to Larson’s bestselling book in 2010, with the project bouncing from studio to studio. It was last set up at Hulu as a big-budget miniseries in 2019 but was later dropped.
First published in 2003, “Devil in the White City” follows H.H. Holmes, a notorious criminal regarded as the first American serial killer for the lurid tabloid pieces published around his crimes. The story is set in 1893 at the Chicago World’s Fair, and contrasts Holmes’ killings against the efforts of architect Daniel Burnham to make the World’s Fair a reality.
If the project enters production, it would be a major addition to the 20th Century Studios slate, which Disney is seeking to expand beyond its most well-known IP like “Avatar” and “Alien” under the leadership of presidents Steve Asbell and David Greenbaum, the latter of whom is also the president of Disney’s live-action division. Production SVP Sarah Shepard is also involved in negotiations, with all three executives overseeing the project for Disney.
Scorsese and DiCaprio first partnered on the 2002 film “Gangs of New York,” with DiCaprio next playing Howard Hughes in Scorsese’s 2004 follow-up “The Aviator.” The two would go on to work together on “The Departed,” which won Scorsese a Best Director Oscar, as well as on “Shutter Island,” “The Wolf of Wall Street,” and most recently, “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
Scorsese is repped by WME. LBI Entertainment reps Scorsese, DiCaprio and Appian Way. The talks were first reported by Deadline.
The post Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio in Talks to Revive ‘Devil In the White City’ at 20th Century Studios appeared first on TheWrap.
