Leonardo DiCaprio has reportedly passed up on making his planned Evel Knievel movie with director Damien Chazelle.
Why did DiCaprio pass on the Evel Knievel movie?
According to a new report from THR on Chazelle’s next movie, a prison drama starring Daniel Craig and Cillian Murphy, it was noted that Chazelle pivoted to this movie after prepping for months for the Evel Knievel movie.
THR’s report goes on to mention that DiCaprio, who was set to star in the film, pivoted away from it after “months of talks,” and has decided to work with Martin Scorsese on his upcoming film with Dwayne Johnson.
The reason behind this pivot, according to the report, is due to Scorsese’s age. The legendary filmmaker is 82, and has openly discussed wanting to make movies until he’s unable to.
Whether or not this is the end of the Evel Knievel movie remains unknown. The movie had been so far advanced in planning that it had a title, Evel Knievel on Tour, and was prepping to go into production. Adrien Brody was also rumored to be in discussion to star in the film.
As for Scorsese and DiCaprio’s next movie, not too much is known about it. Scorsese will be directing from a screenplay written by Nick Bilton. It will be produced by Scorsese, Johnson, Blunt, DiCaprio, Bilton, Dany Garcia, Lisa Frechette and Rick Yorn. At the moment, the project has no official title, production start date, and release date yet.
“The film focuses on a turbulent time on the island paradise when an aspiring mob boss battled rival crime factions to wrest control of the underworld of the Hawaiian islands,” Deadline’s description of the movie reads. “It was a bloody battle, the kind of terrain Scorsese covered in both Goodfellas and The Departed. In 1960s and 70s Hawaii, this formidable and charismatic mob boss rises to build the islands’ most powerful criminal empire, waging a brutal war against mainland corporations and rival syndicates while fighting to preserve his ancestral land. It’s based on the untold true story of a man who fought to preserve his homeland through a ruthless quest for absolute power — igniting the last great American mob saga, where the war for cultural survival takes place in the unlikeliest of places: paradise.”
