Wow, talk about things moving fast in Hollywood!

It may have only been a few weeks since the scandal erupted around the Volkswagen fuel emissions cheating but there’s already a movie in the works. DiCaprio is on board to produce the film alongside Jennifer Davisson through his Appian Way company.

There’s no mention of stars, writer or director yet – one might assume that DiCaprio might star himself but he’s a known environmentalist who has produced these types of themed films before (the climate change documentary The 11th Hour chief among them) so it wouldn’t surprise me if he kept himself strictly as a producer for this one, too.

Paramount is the studio behind the movie, having nabbed the presumably sought-after rights to the upcoming book by Jack Ewing. Variety has the details on what it exposes:

“…The company placed illegal software in their clean diesel cars that could tell when a car was being tested for fuel emissions and would turn on the emissions control to cheat the test and meet EPA standards. During normal driving conditions, emission control software was shut off  — resulting in as much as 40 times more pollution than allowed by law. Volkswagen is currently facing up to $18 billion in fines from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.”

If there’s one thing Hollywood loves it’s a true story and, more specifically, a controversial one. Getting this one made and out in the world will be crucial for it to feel relevant to audiences. DiCaprio being attached can’t exactly hurt its box office chances.

The actor will next be seen in the amazing-looking The Revenant.

Source: Variety