Leonardo DiCaprio Will Star In And Produce THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY
THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY may finally be coming to the big screen. Leonardo DiCaprio is set to star in and produce the film adaptation of Erik Larson’s best seller. DiCaprio will produce with his Appian Way partner Jennifer Killoran, and Double Feature’s Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher will also have a hand in producing as well.
The Devil in the White City is the non fiction story of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, and the lives of two men at its center. Daniel H. Burnham is the architect who constructed the fair itself, and his story centers around the challenges he had to overcome to construct the “White City”.
The other man that the story follows is H.H. Holmes, a serial killer who is believed to be responsible for countless murders around the time of the fair. Holmes built the World’s Fair Hotel, which housed a crematorium and gas chamber, and used the events of the fair to lure victims to their death.
DiCaprio is set to play Holmes.
The Devil In The White City has been sitting in Hollywood for a while for various reasons. Creating 1893 Chicago leads to budget roadblocks. Paramount was going to adapt the book until 2004, when it let the option lapse, but came back on in 2007 for Double Feature to produce.
Currently the project has no studio to call home or to provide financing, but hopefully with DiCaprio’s sign on this will change.
