It has been more than 16 years since Leonardo DiCaprio and Steven Spielberg last collaborated on a film, that being Catch Me If You Can. They're now in early talks to work together again, this time on a biopic of Ulysses S. Grant.
DiCaprio has been working to develop this one for Lionsgate, having grabbed the rights to Ron Chernow's book and commissioned David James Kelly to adapt it. Chernow, of course, is the man responsible for the Alexander Hamilton biography that spawned a very famous musical, one we can't quite recall right now. What's your name, man?
Grant's story is certainly one ripe for the biopic treatment, and it would see Spielberg return to the sort of territory he trod with Lincoln. Down on his luck with failing businesses and a resignation from the army amid accusations of drunkenness, Grant enjoyed a rousing second act as Abraham Lincoln’s most trusted general. He won the battle of Shiloh and the Vicksburg campaign, and defeated the legendary Southern Confederate general Robert E. Lee. His military genius propelled him to two terms in the White House. He was a champion for black Americans and worked to crush the Ku Klux Klan, even as there were scandals involving administration’s leaders.
Just don't expect this one soon, even if they do come to some agreement. Spielberg's schedule is typically packed, with a new Indiana Jones movie and a planned remake of West Side Story waiting in the wings. DiCaprio has various projects bubbling away and is about to work on Once Upon A Time In Hollywood for Quentin Tarantino.
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