Michael Mann has delivered to studio executives what he hopes will be his next directing effort, a star vehicle for Leonardo DiCaprio, reports Variety.
Written by John Logan, the project is an untitled noir drama that takes place on the old MGM lot in the 1930s. DiCaprio is poised to play the kind of private detective studios once relied on to clean up the scandals created by its stars. He’s hired to investigate whether a starlet murdered her husband.
The script was delivered by CAA to studios late last week. New Line made a bid of around $100 million, added the trade, which falls below a projected pricetag of around $120 million.
Sources for the trade said the script is strong and the film has a period feel reminiscent of L.A. Confidential.
Aside from a budget, the film has a February start date. It will shoot mostly on soundstages, and it works in classic figures like Judy Garland and Bugsy Siegel. The latter is the centerpiece of a shootout scene that unfolds in the Trocadero nightclub on Sunset Boulevard.
Mann, Logan and DiCaprio last worked together on The Aviator.
