This week’s film that Leonardo Dicaprio has signed up for is Deep Blue Goodbye, although unlike the endless stream of movies that his production company is working on or which he’s expressed interest in, it sounds like this is one that he might actually made.
According to Variety, DiCaprio is in line to play Travis McGee, a self-described beach bum who lives aboard 52-foot houseboat the Busted Flush and alleviates his cash-flow problems by hiring on as a ‘salvage consultant.’ He recovers property for clients, taking a hefty percentage and getting into a lot of danger and romance in sun-drenched Florida. The movie would be an adaptation of the first book in the 21-strong Travis McGee mystery novel series series by John D. MacDonald, and would see him working for a woman who wants help to find some World War II treasure, which a psychopath is also trying to track down.
At the moment the one thing that DiCaprio lacks is a strong franchise to help keep his star burning, but it looks like that’s what he’s hoping to set up by playing McGee. It certainly sounds less serious and ponderous than most of Leo’s movies, and could give him his own mini-Bond franchise. Dana Stevens is currently writing the script, but there’s no news on when it might be going into production.