While Leo DiCaprio has made a hobby of signing on for hundreds of films at a time but only making a few of them, Deadline reports the actor will star in The Devil in the White City, which will tell the true tale of an early American serial killer.
Leonardo DiCaprio and his Appian Way Production partner, Jennifer Davisson Killoran, have acquired the rights to Erik Larson’s 2003 non-fiction book, along with Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher of Double Features. It’s not the first time DiCaprio has shown interest either, as in late 2002 he tried to acquire the rights, to the book but they went to Tom Cruise. Even then he was keen on it, with the idea being that DiCaprio would co-star with Cruise in the flick. However that idea never got past the development stage, so when the rights to the book became available again, DiCaprio made sure he snapped them up personally.
The plot revolves around Dr. HH Holmes, who will be playedby Leonardo DiCaprio. Holmes built The World’s Fair Hotel during the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, which he used to lure young women to their death. It was believed that Holmes murdered anywhere between 27 and 200 people at the hotel, which became known as the “murder castle”, due to the fact it had been elaborately constructed so that it contained a crematorium, gas chamber and a dissecting table. It was said that he would murder the victims and sell their skeletons off for medical and scientific studies.
No studio is attached to the project. Producers will seek out a writer to adapt the book and put together a package to shop around to potential financers.