Frequent collaborators and good pals Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese are teaming up for yet another film.
With the two already collaborating on FBI origin story Killers of the Flower Moon – currently in production for Apple and based on a book by David Grann – they’ve now signed on for The Wager, coincidentally based on another Grann book and also in the works at Apple.
The Wager will be based on Grann’s book The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder. The film is set in the 1740s as the titular British naval ship is wrecked on a desolate island off the tip of South America. The captain and crew then struggle to survive and maintain order, while battling not only the most extreme elements but their own human nature.
It’s unclear right now who will write the screenplay. Dan Friedkin and Bradley Thomas will produce for Imperative Entertainment, along with Scorsese for Sikelia Productions and DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson for Appian Way Productions.
Imperative are handling production on Killers of the Flower Moon and recently released acclaimed crime series Blackbird, also for Apple.
It’s exciting enough to have one DiCaprio/Scorsese project on the horizon, but two is a cinephile’s dream. The Wager is only in early development right now, so there likely won’t be any further details soon. Probably until Killers of the Flower Moon arrives, which is expected to be within the next year, likely premiering at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.
That film is based on Grann’s non-fiction book of the same name, which investigates a series of murders of wealthy Osage people that took place in Osage County, Oklahoma in the early 1920s after big oil deposits were discovered beneath their land.
Along with DiCaprio, the film also stars Scorsese’s other frequent collaborator Robert De Niro, as well as Jesse Plemons, Lily Gladstone, Tantoo Cardinal, and John Lithgow. Production has cost over $200 million and the film will obviously be a big deal.
Apple have already secured the first Academy Award win for Best Picture by a streaming service thanks to CODA‘s win earlier this year. By potentially becoming DiCaprio/Scorsese’s new home in the uncertain future of film distribution, they could be looking forward to a lot more gold statues.
#Peace.Love.TheWager
