Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio are reportedly reuniting on a long-gestating project
They could finally be bringing ‘The Devil In The White City’ to the big screen
by Sophie Butcher · NMEMartin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio could be reuniting on a movie project they’ve been developing for years.
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As reported by Deadline, the pair could finally be set to shoot a film adaptation of Erik Larson’s bestselling book The Devil In The White City, with DiCaprio in talks to star and Scorsese in talks to direct, and both potentially on board as producers.
Larson’s hit non-fiction book, full title The Devil In The White City: Murder, Magic And Madness At The Fair That Changed America, was first published in 2004.
Set in Chicago, it tells the story of two men during the time of the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, also known as the World’s Fair. One is the Fair’s architect, Daniel Burnham, and the other is Dr. H.H. Holmes, known as America’s first modern serial killer, whose most notorious crimes occurred around that time.
DiCaprio has held the rights to the book since 2010, and he and Scorsese have been developing the project over the years since – including, at one point, the possibility of a TV series adaptation starring Keanu Reeves – but nothing has come to fruition yet. This new update on the project comes due to the studio 20th Century (previously 20th Century Fox, now part of Disney) coming on board. No further shooting or release details have been confirmed.
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Scorsese and DiCaprio have worked together on numerous films over the past two decades, including Gangs Of New York (a TV series of which is reportedly coming soon), The Aviator, The Departed, Shutter Island, The Wolf Of Wall Street, and, most recently, the multiple Oscar-nominated crime drama Killers Of The Flower Moon.
In April 2024, it was reported that they could collaborate once again on a Frank Sinatra biopic, with Scorsese said to be seeking DiCaprio to play the iconic singer and Jennifer Lawrence to play his second wife, actress Ava Gardner. In September 2024, Variety reported that shooting of the biopic was being put on hold, with no rescheduled date confirmed as of yet.