The 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' actor is offered the role of an ambitious young con-man in the film, which will be based on William Lindsay Gresham's novel of the same name.

AceShowbiz - Fifteen years after playing an elusive con-man in Steven Spielberg's "Catch Me If You Can", Leonardo DiCaprio could use the tricks again for his next movie. The Oscar-winning actor is currently in negotiations to star in Guillermo del Toro's "Nightmare Alley".

The movie will be based on William Lindsay Gresham's novel of the same name. While the novel has been turned into a 1947 movie by Edmund Goulding, the upcoming pic is not a remake of the 1947 movie, but instead a new adaptation of the book, according to Variety which first reported the news.

The novel is described as "a study of the lowest depths of showbiz and its sleazy inhabitants - the dark, shadowy world of a second rate carnival filled with hustlers, scheming grifters, and Machiavellian femmes fatales."

The 1947 movie starred Tyrone Power as ambitious young con-man who teams up with a female psychiatrist who is even more corrupt than he is. At first, they enjoy success fleecing people with their mentalist act, but then she turns the tables on him, out-manipulating the manipulator.

DiCaprio is expected to take the role of the con-man, while the female psychiatrist is yet to be cast. del Toro is on board as director in addition to co-writing the script along with Kim Morgan. The project eyes a fall start date as the helmer is filling out the remaining roles.

"Nightmare Alley" will mark del Toro first directing gig since he won an Academy Award for Best Director for "The Shape of Water" in 2018. He chose to only serve as producer for horror adaptation "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" and Scott Cooper's upcoming horror film "Antlers".

As for DiCaprio, the actor also took a break from acting after winning an Academy Award for Best Actor in 2016 for his role in "The Revenant". He, however, has finished filming Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood", which is set to be released on July 26. The 44-year-old star is also set to reunite with director Martin Scorsese in "Killers of the Flower Moon".

Follow AceShowbiz.com @ Google News

You can share this post!

You might also like
Related Posts