Leonardo DiCaprio To Star In Martin Scorsese's 'Roosevelt' Biopic

Literally two posts ago we were talking about how prolific Martin Scorsese is and Boom! Here comes Marty with another one, with news of a project that could reteam him with an actor who’s been something of a muse of his over the past fifteen or so years. Deadline reports that Scorsese will reteam once again with Leonardo DiCaprio for a biopic of Teddy Roosevelt.

READ MORE: Martin Scorsese Reportedly Directing Documentary On Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue

To those who haven’t boned up on this history, the 25th president, one of the Mount Rushmore faces, overcame a sickly childhood to become one of America’s most active, action-packed politicians, and eventually became the youngest president at the age of 42 after the death of William McKinley. DiCaprio’s interest in the man apparently comes from Roosevelt’s love of conservation, which he shared with the star: he was responsible for establishing many of the country’s national parks and monuments.

This isn’t the first time that whispers of this project, titled simply “Roosevelt,” have emerged — there were rumors back in 2014 that DiCaprio was planning this project with Scorsese, though nothing firm ever emerged about it. But now Paramount have jumped on board the project, with Scott Bloom, a first-time writer and member of DiCaprio’s famous Pussy Posse, writing the script (*ALARM BELLS*).

READ MORE: Warner Bros. Want Leonardo DiCaprio For The Joker Movie

A word of caution, however: while the star and director have worked together five times — on “Gangs Of New York,” “The Aviator,” “The Departed,” “Shutter Island” and “The Wolf Of Wall Street,” this wouldn’t be the first time they teamed up for a project before discarding it. DiCaprio was meant to star in the remake of “The Gambler” that Mark Wahlberg eventually did with Rupert Wyatt for Scorsese, and would have headlined his scrapped “Sinatra” biopic. Just recently, the two have been developing two stories based on non-fiction books: the long-gestatingDevil In The White City” and “Killers Of The Flower Moon,” which might reteam both with Robert De Niro.

So, we’re not saying it’s NOT happening, but it might be a while off yet. Anyway, more news on it as it comes in, and if nothing else, it’s good to see DiCaprio circling filmmaking again: he’s not made a movie since picking up his Oscar for “The Revenant” two years ago.