Word reached us back in March that he was "in talks" on the project, but Deadline this morning have confirmation that Leonardo DiCaprio will be playing J Edgar Hoover in Clint Eastwood's upcoming biopic.
Hoover was a founder of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and its director from 1935 until his death in 1972. He's usually credited with making the FBI the juggernaut law-enforcement agency it is today, and with instituting key developments like central fingerprinting and forensic laboratories. In later years, however, it came to light that Hoover himself wasn't averse to breaking the law in the name of enforcing it, and the Bureau under his jurisdiction had an unpleasant air of the secret police about it, amassing secret files on political leaders and harassing dissidents and dissenters. Post-Hoover, each directorship of the FBI has been limited to ten years.
Plenty of potential drama for Clint and Leo to sink their teeth into then, although it's not yet clear what angle Dustin Lance Black's script has taken. A snapshot of the Bureau's inception might make for some interesting Public Enemies-style gangster action, with appearances from Machine Gun Kelly and John Dillinger a possibility. Or a broader, longer-period approach might come off like Oliver Stone (Bob Hoskins played a very camp Hoover in Nixon). And then there's the question of Hoover's legendary cross-dressing habits, and whether / how that will be fitted in.
Whatever, Eastwood is another impressive director for DiCaprio to add to his collector's set, alongside Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan, Ridley Scott and Sam Mendes. And Steven Spielberg. And James Cameron. And Ed Zwick, Danny Boyle, Woody Allen, Sam Raimi, Lasse Hallstrom and Kristine Peterson. Shall we go on? Eastwood is producing with Brian Grazer (the two met on Changeling) and Rob Lorenz, and the film is being fast-tracked at Warners, having been turned down by Universal. Shooting will start later in the year.