UPDATE: Leonardo is now confirmed for the lead in an untitled J. Edgar Hoover biopic to be directed by Clint Eastwood, reports Deadline.
The project is being developed at Warner Bros. with Brian Grazer producing.
While the project written by Dustin Lance Black (Milk) was originally set up at Grazer’s usual production partner, Universal Pictures, it’s being mobilized at Eastwood’s home at Warner Bros. with hopes to start filming this fall. Eastwood and Grazer previously collaborated on the period drama Changeling, which received three Oscar nominations, but this would be the first time DiCaprio has worked with the prolific filmmaker. DiCaprio previously played eccentric millionaire Howard Hughes in his long-time collaborator Martin Scorsese’s movie The Aviator, for which both of them also received Oscar nominations.
Hoover was last seen on screen as played by Billy Crudup in Michael Mann’s crime-thriller Public Enemies, which starred Christian Bale and Johnny Depp; Mann’s film mainly dealt with Hoover’s formation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to stop organized crime in the country. Other actors who’ve played Hoover include Ernest Borgnine in a one-man show and Bob Hoskins in Oliver Stone’s Nixon.
