According to an exclusive report from Deadline, Clint
Eastwood is courting a movie that would re-team The Wolf of Wall Street stars.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill made such a charismatic duo
in Scorsese’s film that every world-class director is chomping at the bit to
work with them. The two actors had such a great time and so much success with
working together on that movie, that they came on board as producers on this
upcoming project in order to work together again — and now they’re trying to
find someone to direct. After Eastwood’s awards and box office goldmine with
this year’s American Sniper, he seems like just the man for the job.
The movie will see Hill playing Richard Jewell, the security
guard credited with saving many lives at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta when
he cleared people from the area after discovering a suspicious backpack before
the bomb within it exploded. Jewell was promptly plunged into a weird sort of
hell after saving all those people when he was accused of being the terrorist
who planted the bomb in the Olympic compound.
DiCaprio will play Jewell’s friend and lawyer, who helped
him get cleared of terrorism charges despite only having experience in real
estate closings. The improbable story was told in a 1997 Vanity Fair article,
“The Ballad of Richard Jewell,” which was adapted into a screenplay by Oscar-nominated
screenwriter Billy Ray.
Both Hill and DiCaprio earned Oscar nominations for their
parts in The Wolf of Wall Street, with the acclaim coming in no small part from
the two actors’ chemistry. The film was praised for being Scorsese’s return to
classic form and The New York Times said Jonah Hill is “a manic, tubby Joe
Pesci to Mr. DiCaprio’s Robert De Niro” in his role as the lackey. Hill
famously had to lobby hard and take a huge pay cut to get the part, but it made
his career as a serious actor. Their parts as depraved Wall Street stockbrokers
couldn’t be further from the heroic figures they’ll be playing in this next
movie, but their obvious chemistry as actors unafraid to take risks together
will benefit them regardless of the material.
As for Eastwood, the filmmaker recently scored six Academy
Award nominations and one win for the controversial Iraq War biopic American
Sniper. Rare for an awards season darling, the movie was also hugely successful
at the box office, grossing over $500 million worldwide, according to Box
Office Mojo. Though Sniper was mired in political controversy, Eastwood coaxed
Bradley Cooper into what was pretty much unanimously praised as the best
performance of his career. Any actor would love to have a film succeed both at
the box office and during awards season, so if a deal can be worked out, it’s
likely Eastwood will get the gig.
Aside from the surface success of American Sniper, the movie
has something in common thematically with the planned project from Hill and
DiCaprio. Jewell was put on trial for suspected terrorism and only released by
the FBI after three months of hell and vilification by the media. In some
circles, the sniper Chris Kyle, who serves as the subject of American Sniper,
is a similar falsely vilified hero. For others, the film served as a gross
romanticization of a sociopath. Eastwood will likely take a unique angle on the
story and with Hill and DiCaprio in the lead roles, this is sure to be an
awards season contender.
No comments:
Post a Comment