It’s incredible to think of the consistently high volume of work Martin Scorsese continues to churn out when so many of his movies end up languishing in development hell for years, if not decades. He first acquired the rights to Gangs of New York in 1979, but it would be another 23 years before his epic crime drama made it to the big screen.
Similarly, a Howard Hughes biopic had been kicking around Hollywood for close to three decades before Scorsese brought The Aviator to life, he remained attached to Silence for over a quarter of a century, and he’d first discussed The Irishman with Robert De Niro back in the 1980s.
His upcoming effort Killers of the Flower Moon came together quickly, though, with the source novel only having been published in 2017, but it also set The Devil in the White City on the back burner. Leonardo DiCaprio picked up the rights to Erik Larson’s book in 2010 specifically for Scorsese to direct, but it failed to make any headway despite the presence of the A-list duo and regular collaborators.
It was announced in February 2019 that the project had moved to Hulu where it was being reworked as a limited series, although Scorsese and DiCaprio still remain on board as executive producers. Last week, it was rumored that Robert Pattinson was being eyed to play serial killer H.H. Holmes, and now a new report claims that Matt Damon is wanted for Daniel Burnham, the architect behind the 1893 World’s Fair.
The Devil in the White City hasn’t made much in the way of forward momentum over the last two years, but if the latest news is to be taken at face value, then that could all change very quickly if big names like Pattinson and Damon sign on.
