DiCaprio and Scorsese Revive Their Theodore Roosevelt Film

DiCaprio and Scorsese revive their Theodore Roosevelt film

A biopic of 26th U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt teaming director Martin Scorsese and his frequent muse Leonardo DiCaprio was first set up back in 2005 at Paramount Pictures. Now, according to Deadline, the project is back on course at Paramount under the title Roosevelt, and if made will mark the sixth collaboration between the star and director after Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed, Shutter Island and The Wolf of Wall Street.

When the project was in development over a decade ago it was to be based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning Edmund Morris book The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, with Nicholas Meyer (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) writing the script. While that film would have chronicled Roosevelt’s formative years where he turned from privileged Harvard grad and New York politician to the leader of the legendary Cavalry regiment the Rough Riders during the Spanish–American War. That film would have followed his track from Governor of New York to Vice President and, following William McKinley’s assassination, President.

Morris actually penned a trilogy of Roosevelt biographies, the second of which (Theodore Rex) carries readers through the entirety of his presidency from 1901 to 1909. The third book, Colonel Roosevelt, concludes his story through making a third, failed attempt to be elected President under a third party, his dangerous trip through the Brazilian jungle and down the infamous River of Doubt, and finally his death in 1919. While Oscar winner DiCaprio is now the same age Roosevelt was when he became President (42), it is unknown if the plan is to shift to one of Morris’ other biographies or keep to the initial “Rise of” storyline.

The new Roosevelt script will be written by Scott Bloom, with DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson producing through their Appian Way banner. Scorsese and Emma Koskoff will produce through Sikelia, with Chuck Pacheco also producing.

(Photo Credit: Getty Images)

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