Even before they made Shutter Island, Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio were throwing around ideas for other movies that they could collaborate on. One of the more popular titles was an adaptation of Jordan Belfort’s memoir The Wolf of Wall Street. But now it looks like one of DiCaprio’s other director mates could be stepping in to make the movie instead, with Deadline reporting that Ridley Scott is in early talks to take over the megaphone.
So what happened to Scorsese and DiCaprio’s plans? Seems it was scuppered by studio bickering, with Paramount and Warner Bros. at loggerheads as to who would get to produce it. Marty has since moved on to make The Invention of Hugo Cabret and has a stack of other projects on the go.
But while Sir Rid is a logical choice to take the film on, given his prior relationship with DiCaprio, it’s also surprising that he’d want to add yet another possible movie to his own heavily crammed schedule. Still, he’s apparently thrilled by the script that former Sopranos writer Terence Winter forged from Belfort’s tales of stockbroker excess in the 1990s, with a rich seam of smarmy financial bastards who profited off their investors until they were brought down by the authorities.
DiCaprio is still attached, planning to produce as well as star, though given both his and Scott’s busy work lives, there’s no idea when it might actually get to our screens.