Leonardo DiCaprio may be teaming up with Guillermo del Toro. DiCaprio has been rather quiet for the last few years, ever since winning his first Oscar for his performance in 2015's The Revenant. The heralded actor took some time off but now, he's back at it again and he's possibly going to work with one of the most acclaimed directors in the business today for the first time, as del Toro is eyeing DiCaprio for a role in his upcoming Nightmare Alley remake.
According to a new report, Leonardo DiCaprio is in talks to star in Nightmare Alley, which is being positioned as Guillermo del Toro's next directorial effort. Del Toro's The Shape of Water went on to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards last year and, since then, he's been content to take his time before jumping right into to his next directorial effort. He's lined up several potential projects, including a new take on Pinocchio for Netflix and his Michael Mann documentary. However, it looks like Nightmare Alley is next on the docket and he's got at least one A-list star ready to go.
Leonardo DiCaprio made Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which arrives in theaters this summer and co-star Brad Pitt, his first project since The Revenant. It's now clear that he's not going to wait another three or four years to get back in front of the camera. There's no word yet on who exactly he would be playing in the movie, nor is it clear who else is being eyed to star at the present time. One would assume DiCaprio would be the lead, who was played by Tyrone Power in the 1947 original. It's said that del Toro's take will draw more on the William Lindsay Gresham novel of the same name.
The original Nightmare Alley, directed by Edmund Goulding, centers on Stanton Carlisle (Tyrone Power) who joins a traveling carny and unsuccessfully does his best to figure out the mind-reading act of Mademoiselle Zeena (Joan Blondell), along with her alcoholic husband, Pete (Ian Keith). However, when Pete dies, Zeena reluctantly takes on Stanton as her new partner. He quickly proves to be better suited for the job than Pete. Stanton eventually, as a result, abandons Zeena and the carny to rebrand himself as "The Great Stanton." As one might guess, not everything goes swimmingly from there.
Guillermo del Toro is set to pen the screenplay for the remake alongside Kim Morgan. The plan is to shoot the movie this fall, which would mean we could see it debut sometime in late 2020, but the project does not yet have a release date set. This movie was originally set up at Fox Searchlight before the Disney merger was completed. However, this seems like one of the projects that won't get the ax as a result of the consolidation between the two companies. Especially with a star like Leonardo DiCaprio on board. We'll be sure to keep you posted as further details on the project are made available. This news was first reported by Variety.
