Talk about a match made in heaven: Oscar-winning actorLeonardo DiCapriois in line to lead the next film from Oscar-winning directorGuillermo del Toro. TheShape of Waterfilmmaker took 2018 off after scoring Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture with his fantastical love story, and it appears he’s now settled onNightmare Alleyas his next project.Varietyreports that DiCaprio, fresh off his starring role inQuentin Tarantino’s Hollywood-centricOnce Upon a Time in… Hollywood, is in talks to star in the film.
Nightmare Alleyis a new adaptation of the 1946 novel byWilliam Lindsay Gresham. The book was first adapted as a film in 1947 as a straight noir chronicling the rise and fall of a con man, set against the backdrop of a second rate carnival, but sources tell us del Toro’s film is not a remake of that movie but instead a new adaptation of Gresham’s book. Del Toro co-wrote the script withKim Morganand will produce and finance the film alongside hisShape of WaterproducerJ. Miles Dalewith TSG Entertainment. Fox Searchlight will distribute.
The plan is to start shootingNightmare Alleythis fall while del Toro works to fill out the rest of the ensemble. During his self-imposed hiatus, del Toro has been busy producing this year’sScary Stories to Tell in the Darkadaptation (which he co-wrote) andHostilesfilmmakerScott Cooper’s upcoming horror filmAntlers.
DiCaprio, meanwhile, is a famously choosy actor. He was last seen onscreen in 2015’sThe Revenant, for which he finally won the Best Actor Oscar (though he should’ve won forWolf of Wall Street), and his follow-up effort is this year’sOnce Upon a Time in… Hollywood, in which he plays a Western TV show star struggling to find relevance in 1969 Hollywood.THRsays he was mulling over several scripts for his next project, including new films fromPaul Thomas AndersonandAlejandro Gonzalez Ińárritu, but it appears he chose del Toro. Though here’s hoping that PTA project comes back around…
Del Toro originally planned to followThe Shape of Waterup with the big-budget,James Cameron-producedFantastic Voyageand had even begun prep work before asking 20th Century Fox (which was financing the film) if he could hit pause to devote his attention to the release and awards campaign of Fox Searchlight’sThe Shape of Water. The gamble paid off, butFantastic Voyageremained on the backburner and that project’s fate remains unclear in the wake of Disney’s acquisition of Fox. Indeed, when Disneyhalted production on Fox’sMouse Guardlast week, reports swirled that the Mouse House doesn’t want Fox making big budget films of that ilk anymore.
Regardless, as much as I’d like to see del Toro’sFantastic Voyage, I’m positively thrilled at the prospect of him making a full-on noir with Leonardo DiCaprio. Bring onNightmare Alley.
