Leonardo DiCaprio in New Film from the Director of La La Land?
The shooting could take place later this year
Leonardo DiCaprio has a number of new film projects on the horizon. We recently reported on a new Scorsese film starring him and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Now the news portal Puck is reporting that the Hollywood star could be working with a highly sought-after man: "La La Land" director Damien Chazelle.
The project is said to be a biopic about the stuntman Evel Knievel. During his career in the 60s and 70s, Knievel performed a number of daring stunts that made him famous in Hollywood. However, the film will focus less on the stuntman's entire life. Instead, the film will focus on a failed stunt in which Knievel tried to fly a rocket over a canyon.
Who is involved in the project?
Leonardo DiCaprio is to portray Evel Knievel. Hardly anything needs to be said about DiCaprio's biography. The actor has appeared in numerous popular films, including Christopher Nolan's "Inception", Tarantino's "Django Unchained" and Scorsese's "The Wolf of Wall Street".
Director Damien Chazelle has made more than just a name for himself in the film world over the last decade. Among others, he directed the critics' favorite "Whiplash" and the musical "La La Land" starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. The screenplay, meanwhile, is being written by Terence Winter. Winter wrote the screenplay for the aforementioned "Wolf of Wall Street" and numerous episodes of the acclaimed gangster drama "The Sopranos", for example.
With DiCaprio, Chazelle and Winter, Evel Knievel's biopic will therefore involve multiple award-winning Hollywood stars. According to the portal Puck, filming is set to take place in the summer of 2025. We can therefore hope for a cinema release in 2026.
The films of Damien Chazelle
Whiplash
Damien Chazelle's career really took off with "Whiplash", a film that made him famous worldwide. The film tells the story of young jazz drummer Andrew (Miles Teller), who is trained to become an exceptional talent under the brutal guidance of an ambitious music professor, played by J.K. Simmons. "Whiplash" is an intense drama that explores the themes of ambition, sacrifice and the personal cost of artistic success. Chazelle not only captures the music in an extraordinary way, but also poses the question of how far a person should go to realize their dreams.
The film was critically acclaimed and was a great success at the Academy Awards. Chazelle not only showed an extraordinary talent for the staging of music and rhythm, but also for the creation of complex, emotional characters.
La La Land
Following the success of "Whiplash", Chazelle brought "La La Land" to the big screen in 2016 - a musical that is both a homage to classic Hollywood musicals and a contemporary love story. The film tells the story of Mia (Emma Stone), an aspiring actress, and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), a jazz pianist, who strive for happiness in Los Angeles and have to put both their love and their careers to the test in the process.
"La La Land" became a worldwide success and received numerous awards. The film captivates with its visual opulence, its catchy songs and its emotional depth. Chazelle succeeds in reinterpreting the classic musical genre by combining it with modern themes such as the challenges of life as an artist and the compromises in relationships.
First Man
In 2018, Chazelle turned his attention to a very different kind of story with "First Man" - the nationwide, historical narrative of the first moon landing. The film follows astronaut Neil Armstrong (played by Ryan Gosling) and his journey to the historic Apollo 11 flight that put him as the first man on the moon. It is not only about the technical challenges and the magnitude of the mission, but also about Armstrong's personal struggles as he struggles with the stresses of his job and his life. "First Man" is characterized by an intimate narrative style that focuses on the human aspects of the story.
Babylon
With "Babylon", Chazelle once again returned to the world of Hollywood cinema, but this time to a much larger, more chaotic and less romanticized time. Set in the 1920s, the film follows a group of actors and filmmakers as they experience the transition period from silent films to talkies. With an impressive cast including Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie, "Babylon" tells the story of fame, excess and the price paid by those involved in the film industry.
"Babylon" deals with the glittering facade of Hollywood and its darker aspects. Critics were divided on the film, but Chazelle once again proved his talent for reinterpreting classic cinema and telling great stories.
