Leonardo DiCaprio has made a bit of a rumble in the headlines as of late with the first report from Deadline saying he is being eyed, and will most likely land the role, of J. Edgar Hoover in Hoover, Clint Eastwood’s biopic of controversial FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment will produce the pic, which appears to be aiming for distribution at Warner Bros. Dustin Lance Black, the Oscar-winning Milk scripter, penned the screenplay with production to begin later this year.
Deadline’s Mike Fleming says he’s heard the script described as “peeling back the curtain on the life of Hoover” with no cross-dressing claims. Probably a smart move as such a direction could make the film feel like more of a joke than an accurate depiction.
DiCaprio is no stranger to historic figures after playing Howard Hughes in Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator which resulted in his second Oscar nomination and first nom as a lead actor. Eastwood will release Hereafter later this year and Hoover will be his follow-up.
The second film on DiCaprio’s plate comes with news of Oliver Stone’s involvement in Travis McGee, an adaptation of the John D. MacDonald mystery novel series of which DiCaprio is said to have had early talks with Stone for the lead role.
The film would take its storyline from MacDonald’s first book in the 21 book series started in 1964, “The Deep Blue Good-By” with a script by Dana Stevens (City of Angels). The story is said to follow the detective Travis McGee as he searches for a World War II treasure. McGee is described as a scrappy detective, a self-described beach bum who resides on a houseboat in Florida, taking on random cases.
Travis McGee, however, does not seem to be on as solid ground as Hoover, but things are said to be looking good. Stone, though, has already lined up Savages as has his next picture after the September release of Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.
