Leonardo DiCaprio has agreed to star in Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu‘s gritty thriller “The Revenant,” which is set up at New Regency, an individual familiar with the project told TheWrap.
Inarritu has spent years trying to get the project off the ground and with DiCaprio’s involvement, it looks as though everything is coming together for a September start. The director also co-wrote the script with Mark L. Smith.
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Based on Michael Punke’s novel “The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge,” story follows a 19th century fur trapper who gets mauled by a grizzly bear and is left for dead by cohorts who rob him. When he survives, he sets out on a treacherous journey to exact revenge on those who betrayed him.
Anonymous Content’s Steve Golin, Keith Redmon and David Kanter will produce with Inarritu, James Skotchdopole and Arnon Milchan, while Paul Green will executive produce.
New Regency will co-finance “The Revenant” with RatPac Entertainment and Worldview Entertainment, and 20th Century Fox will release the film in the fall of 2015.
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New Regency recently produced Inarritu’s comedy “Birdman,” which is expected to debut on the fall festival circuit. The company is also developing adaptations of the Ubisoft videogames “Splinter Cell” and “Assassin’s Creed,” which will respectively star Tom Hardy and Michael Fassbender.
DiCaprio is represented by Rick Yorn of LBI Entertainment.
The news was first reported by Deadline.