Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio struck up quite the partnership on Gangs of New York, and for a while, the legendary director and A-list actor were almost inseparable. Four of the filmmaker’s next five efforts starred DiCaprio in the lead role with The Aviator and The Wolf of Wall Street landing nominations for Best Picture while The Departed won the trophy, and Shutter Island is the only one of their collaborations that’s failed to make the shortlist for the most prestigious prize in the industry.
Having been out of each other’s orbit for almost a decade now, the dream team are back together and prepping $200 million literary adaptation Killers of the Flower Moon. However, one project that fell by the wayside was The Devil in the White City, which DiCaprio bought the rights to in 2010 specifically for Scorsese to direct. The book tells the dovetailing stories of architect Daniel Burnham, who was the brains behind the 1893 World’s Fair, and H.H. Holmes, the unstable doctor regarded as modern America’s first serial killer.
It may have fallen down their list of priorities over the years, but a new report claims that Robert Pattinson is in talks to play Holmes with Scorsese still at the helm of the movie. However, take this one with a pinch of salt, because The Devil in the White City was said to be in development as a Hulu series back in February 2019, with Scorsese and DiCaprio currently only attached to executive produce.
While it can’t be ruled out that Pattinson could end up playing the lead role, and he’s certainly got the chops to pull it off, The Devil in the White City probably isn’t going to be a Scorsese-directed feature film unless he and DiCaprio change their minds once again about how they want to bring it to life.
