Before I head off to a screening of Due Date, a pair of interesting stories have just come online and I thought I’d jot ’em down before taking off.
First, I’ve heard a lot of good things about Erik Larson’s nonfiction book “The Devil in the White City” and now it comes to light Leonardo DiCaprio has signed to star in the film, which he’s set up through his Appian Way banner with Double Feature Films.
The book centers on H.H. Holmes who, according to Wikipedia, was one of the first documented American serial killers in the modern sense of the term. Holmes opened a hotel in Chicago for the 1893 World’s Fair, which he built himself and which was the location of many of his murders. While he confessed to 27 murders, of which nine were confirmed, his actual body count could be higher.
With DiCaprio’s Appian handling it, the likelihood it will end up at Warner Bros. is high, but it’s not yet confirmed. No director was mentioned.
DiCaprio’s next film will be Hoover for Clint Eastwood in which he’ll star as controversial FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. Dustin Lance Black, Oscar-winning Milk scripter, penned the screenplay.
The other story has Tarsem Singh (The Fall) directing an untitled feature based on the Brothers Grimm’s classic fairy tale “Snow White” for Relativity Media. This isn’t to be confused with Universal’s Snow White and the Huntsman which was recently confirmed for a December 21, 2012 release date with rumors Johnny Depp and Tom Hardy are both in contention for the lead role with Charlize Theron rumored to play Snow.
Nope, this is a completely different movie and described by The Wrap as looking to “enchant family audiences.” The story follows Snow White as she teams up with a gang of seven quarrelsome dwarves to save her late father’s kingdom from her evil stepmother.
Comparatively, Hunstman is said to feature an expanded role for the Huntsman who is ordered to take Snow White into the woods and kill her. Instead, he lets her go and he becomes something of a mentor, teaching her to fight and survive.
Tarsem’s film is expected to begin production in March and while Relativity is reportedly interested in Natalie Portman for the lead role, Singh is said to prefer casting an unknown and going down the same path Tim Burton chose when he cast Mia Wasikowska in Alice in Wonderland.
Singh’s next film is The Immortals for Universal on November 11, 2011.
