Not everyone is in a position to pursue a project across 20 years in their career, but Leonardo DiCaprio is taking full advantage of his ability to do just that. Like a dog that will not stop chasing a speeding car, he’s inching closer to a film he’s wanted to work on for many moons, making a deal with New Regency for **The Crowded Room{
It’s based on Daniel Keyes’ 1981 non-fiction book about Billy Milligan, who became the first person in US court history to successfully argue a defence of multiple personalities, alleging that one of the 24 other distinct personas in his head committed robbery and the rape of three women, and that he was unaware of the crimes.
New Regency has had the book’s rights for years now, and DiCaprio first became interested back in 1997. Since then, it has largely sitting on a shelf at the production company despite interest from the likes of James Cameron. Now the actor/producer is looking to kick-start development once again, attaching his Appian Way company. Jason Smilovic and Todd Katzberg are aboard to adapt the script, with DiCaprio eyeing the lead role if he likes how the screenplay turns out. Not all his passion projects make it to the screen, but given how much he’s invested in this one, we’d suspect it has a good chance.
DiCaprio will next be seen in Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s The Revenant, which will be out here on January 15 next year.