Spielberg eyeing DiCaprio for pseudo-Lincoln spin-off
Steven Spielberg is considering an unlikely pseudo-follow up to his Oscar-winning historical drama Lincoln.
The filmmaker is in early talks to reunite with his Catch Me if You Can star Leonardo DiCaprio to make a film about Ulysses S. Grant, the Civil War general who ascended to the presidency a few years after his ally Abraham Lincoln's assassination.
This project isn't being pitched as a direct sequel to Lincoln, as it will be be based on Ron Chernow''s biography Grant rather than anything by Doris Kearns Goodwin, whose book Team of Rivals was the basis for Lincoln.
Chernow is best known for writing the biography Alexander Hamilton, which inspired Lin-Manuel Miranda's Tony Award-winning Broadway musical about the US founding father.
DiCaprio optioned the rights to turn into Chernow's Grant book through this production company Appian Way and will hand over screenwriting duties to Robin Hood's David James Kelly. Unfortunately, a cameo from Lincoln's Daniel Day-Lewis is unlikely, and not just because the actor retired.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the timeline of when this Grant project would film is currently unclear because both Spielberg and DiCaprio are very busy at the moment.
Spielberg is currently getting ready to shoot Indiana Jones 5, and is also working on a remake of West Side Story and the DC Comics property Blackhawk.
Meanwhile, DiCaprio will soon be filming Manson Murders movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood with Brad Pitt and director Quentin Tarantino this summer. He is also expected to reunite with Martin Scorsese for a film about another US president, Theodore Roosevelt.
Want up-to-the-minute entertainment news and features? Just hit 'Like' on our Digital Spy Facebook page and 'Follow' on our @digitalspy Twitter account and you're all set.
You Might Also Like
