Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese collaborating on a new film
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Molly Driscoll Staff writer
Actor Leonardo DiCaprio and director Martin Scorsese are reportedly teaming up for a movie adaptation of a well-known book.
Mr. DiCaprio will star and Mr. Scorsese will direct a of Erik Larson鈥檚 book 鈥淭he Devil in the White City.鈥� Mr. Larson鈥檚 nonfiction book tells the story of how the 1893 Chicago World鈥檚 Fair came to be as well as how a man known as H.H. Holmes built a hotel for fairgoers and became a serial killer.聽
DiCaprio will play Holmes and the book is being adapted for the screen by Billy Ray, who has previously worked on the scripts for such movies as 2013鈥檚 鈥淐aptain Phillips,鈥� for which he received a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar nomination; 2012鈥檚 鈥淭he Hunger Games鈥�; and the 2003 movie 鈥淪hattered Glass.鈥澛�
Legendary director Scorsese comes to this project after recently releasing such films as the 2013 film 鈥淭he Wolf of Wall Street鈥� and the 2011 movie 鈥淗ugo.鈥� He directed the pilot episode of the upcoming HBO show 鈥淰inyl,鈥� which will air in 2016 and centers on a 1970s music producer.
This film "White" will be the newest collaboration between DiCaprio and Scorsese following such movies as 鈥淲olf鈥� and the 2010 movie 鈥淪hutter Island.鈥� Two of the four acting Oscar nominations DiCaprio has received have been for his work with Scorsese 鈥� he received Best Actor nods for his work in 鈥淲olf鈥� and the 2004 movie 鈥淭he Aviator.鈥澛�
The collaborations between DiCaprio and Scorsese have achieved mixed results. The first between them, 2002鈥檚 鈥淕angs of New York,鈥� which told the story of immigrants living in nineteenth-century New York, received middling reviews from critics, as did the 2010 movie 鈥淪hutter Island,鈥� which centered on a mystery at a psychiatric institution. However, their collaboration 鈥淭he Aviator,鈥� which was released in 2004 and told the story of the life of Howard Hughes, was more positively received by critics, as was the 2013 film 鈥淭he Wolf of Wall Street,鈥� which followed Wall Street stockbroker Jordan Belfort. And the 2006 movie 鈥淭he Departed,鈥� about criminals and law enforcement in Boston, won Scorsese the Best Director Oscar as well as winning Best Picture.
When Scorsese and DiCaprio鈥檚 2002 collaboration 鈥淕angs of New York鈥� was released, there were only five Best Picture nominees (now between five and ten films can be nominated). The nominees alongside 鈥淕angs鈥� included 鈥淭he Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,鈥� since that trilogy was at the height of its popularity. (Director Peter Jackson鈥檚 later movies set in that same fantasy world, the 鈥淗obbit鈥� films, would not be as well-received by critics.) Director Stephen Daldry, whose movie 鈥淭he Hours鈥� was nominated for Best Picture that year, has stayed a force at the Oscars, with his 2008 movie 鈥淭he Reader鈥� and 2011鈥檚 鈥淓xtremely Loud and Incredibly Close鈥� also being nominated for Best Picture. Roman Polanski, whose movie 鈥淭he Pianist鈥� was nominated for Best Picture that year, has continued to release critically acclaimed films, though his 2011 movie "Carnage" and 2013's "Venus in Fur" received more mixed reviews. Meanwhile, the movie 鈥淐hicago,鈥� which took Best Picture that year, helped usher in the current popularity of movie musicals. One has been released just about every year since then, to varying box office and critical success, with last year鈥檚 鈥淚nto the Woods鈥� becoming a winner both financially and critically.
