Scorsese + Leo: With Six You Get Body Counts...
Tuesday, August 11, 2015 at 11:30AM 
We knew they would work together again and now we have confirmation: Leonardo DiCaprio will headline Martin Scorsese's adaptation of Erik Larson's bestseller The Devil and the White City. That's a true crime novel about serial killer Dr. HH Holmes who murdered dozens or possibly hundreds in Chicago in the late 19th century. H.H. Holmes was born just a couple of years before the events in Gangs of New York so they're returning to roughly the same time frame of their first collaboration (hello Oscar nominations in craft categories)
This will be Leo's first serial killer role (if not his first villain) though it's always amusing to remember that Hollywood intended him to be our Patrick Bateman in American Psycho before history course-corrected and gave us the one we needed: Christian Bale. But let's not get sidetracked.
The Devil in the White City will be the sixth collaboration between the director and star. DiCaprio is still well behind Robert De Niro as Scorsese's foremost muse both in number of films and quality of films, but maybe some day he'll catch up to him? Scorsese turns 73 in November. Though he's definitely not Clint (85) or Woody (79) with the indefatigable prolificness neither is he all that slow. He averages about 5 movies a decade and Silence, currently in post, will be his fourth this decade already. By the time they release this one (2018?), we'll have our five for the decade unless Marty squeezes one more in somehow. But don't hold your breath. We first heard about this project way back in 2011 when they hired a screenwriter so there's finally a little bit of movement on it (presumably the script is written now)
In honor of Marty & Leo's partnership, their five movies together ranked in four ways just because...
THE MARTY & LEO FILMS
| In Order of Release | Quality (Best to Worst) |
Global Box Office Success |
According to Oscar (Most Loved to Least) |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Gangs of New York (2002) | The Departed great |
Wolf of Wall Street $392 million |
The Aviator (11 noms | 5 wins) |
| The Aviator (2004) |
The Aviator underappreciated at this point |
Shutter Island $294 million |
The Departed (5 noms | 4 wins incl BP so really it's #1) |
| The Departed (2006) |
Wolf of Wall Street divisive for a reason |
The Departed $289 million |
Gangs of New York (10 noms | 0 wins) |
| Shutter Island (2010) |
Shutter Island meh |
The Aviator $213 million |
Wolf of Wall Street (5 noms | 0 wins) |
| Wolf of Wall Street (2013) |
Gangs of New York ugh |
Gangs of New York $193 million |
Shutter Island (zero noms) |
Have you read this novel? Do you look forward to a Marty/Leo reunion or do you wish they would move on?
Reader Comments (45)
I'm glad Scorsese is making The Silence, because that seems like there's something fresh there to re-invigorate him.
I wish Scorsese's new muse was Viola Davis.
I wish they'd move on. Leo is not a character actor; he's too earnest and recognizable to ever blend into a character. Though, by the sounds of it, the Academy is going to be forced to give him an Oscar within the next five years. Eventually it's going to become overkill.
While I'm sure the movie will focus on the serial killer stuff a full 50% of the book Devil in the White City is FASCINATING stuff about the building of the World's Fair, with all the squabbling about landscaping and zoning and such, and I'm really curious to see how that stuff is handled. The stuff outside of Holmes is very Age of Innocence feeling, actually. Just plop Ted Bundy down in Edith Wharton and voila.
I reeeeeeally wish Tom Hardy was playing the part, by the way.
Andy, yes Leo is a movie star and not a versatile actor that can play anything. I am not as big fan of Scorsese as some so I would like if he would hire other people occasionally, and I would especially enjoy a female lead in one of his films. It is pretty annoying how rarely great directors have films with female leads.
Leo should challenge himself by working with directors whose styles are outside of his comfort zone. Maybe someone who can tap into his comic/less-serious side (i.e. Alexander Payne, Spike Jonze).
I feel like Scorsese is the only director who makes Leo palatable. In recent outings, Tarantino and Baz certainly didn't do the job.
It's funny to me that Scorsese's muse became Leo because I always thought Scorsese was the most overrated American director and Leo the most overrated American actor. I guess they belong together making subpar movies that continue to impress people except for me. I'm not surprised they're teaming up again but I wonder if they'll ever get to the point Tim Burton and Johnny Depp reached where the majority of moviegoers cried "enough is enough."
@Jason - the book actually sounds much more appealing now. Thanks for the rec.
I am sorry but DiCaprio was just great in Django Unchained. And I kind of love Shutter Island, too.
Don't forget The Audition, Scorsese's new shor that is gonna open in Venice, with Di Caprio, De Niro and Brad Pitt. Could it win best short? (HA!)
My own Di Caprio wish: Woody Allen again. He was SO GREAT in Celebrity!
Leo was the villain in Django!
I'm actually just about to start reading the book, so that's... something. I've enjoyed each of the Leo/Scorsese collaborations and am looking forward to this one. It's an interesting relationship. Not really sure Leo has been good for Scorsese ultimately (though all of their movies are well above average), but Scorsese has obviously been good for Leo.
For Christ's Sake, MOVE ON!
@Joo Was Leo really the villain in Django though. I mean he was definitely a bad guy and one of the villains you could say. But for my money as the movie progressed it was Samuel Jackson who was the real villain. Jackson controlled DiCaprio more than the opposite.
Anyway I was a little disappointed that Scorsese is doing this just cause I want to see DiCaprio try someone else. I would love to see him work with Aronofsky, but maybe The Crowded Room. My only issue with DiCaprio is he never takes Risks like other actors do. He always works with very acclaimed directors. Barely gives an unknown or new guy a shot. Where actors like McConaughey, Gyllenhaal, and Fassbender are constantly doing that and its paying off. That is what DiCaprio needs to start doing cause by doing this it makes every performance feel as if he is always gunning for the oscar. And while i love him in Wolf, I would like someone to stand up and say how inconsistent and at times cliched his accent was in that film. I wish he didn't do it all. FYI, I have every reason to take issue with that accent as it is mine. That being said I do love Wolf and he is very good, but it isn't his best performance. That would be Gilbert Grape or The Departed.
"Just plop Ted Bundy down in Edith Wharton and voila."
Ha ha, love it!
Though The Aviator, The Departed, and The Wolf of Wall Street contain my three favorite Leo performances, his relationship with Marty has produced films toward which I'm either largely apathetic or harshly critical, so I suppose it's time they both move on. Sometimes frequent collaborations become more about comfortability than they do boundary-pushing, which, from my perspective, has negatively impacted Scorsese more than DiCaprio (I barely can sit through his movies nowadays).
I don't have an issue with Marty and Leo constantly working together, they obviously work well together, the results are generally pretty good, and it's a pretty diverse range of material. It's not like Burton/Depp who make the same movie over and over again.
I will stick up for Leo's performance in Revolutionary Road - he was very good in that. Helps that he and Kate Winslet have such chemistry.
I love this book. I'd rather see a less ossified and airless team make this movie.
Rob, ITA. Leo should have gotten a nom for RR. It's one of his best performances, IMO.
Chicagoans, tonight's outdoor movie in Millennium Park is The Aviator.
Cal - i remember thinking Leo was surprisingly good in celebrity, too.
Rob & Brookesboy -- i dont get the revisionist love for RR out there these days. I think a lot of it stems from people hating The Reader but neither were great films.
Jason -- your description does make me want to read this
Nathaniel: it's totally not revisionist though! I really liked RR a lot upon my first viewing, and I think it still holds up (saw it again last month). Helps that I adore the novel, which I think is a masterpiece.
Academy Award Winner Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant. Haters gonna hate haha
I saw the headline and thought this was going to be MELISSA LEO teaming up with Scorcese. Can someone make that happen?
Rob & Brookesboy -- i dont get the revisionist love for RR out there these days. I think a lot of it stems from people hating The Reader but neither were great films.
This. RR was a low Leo point (but I preferred Kate's work in it to what she was doing in The Reader).
For me, the best things to come out of the Scorsese-Di Caprio collaboration have been Wolf and The Departed, although I also admired Shutter Island and DDL in Gangs.
But with very few exceptions I haven't been a Di Caprio fan since 1998 and my favorite Scorsese projects star De Niro (obviously).
Revolutionary Road: A married WASP couple spends two hours shouting at each other when their feelings of inherent exceptionalism are delegitimized by their inability to do anything exceptional. And people claim to like this movie why?
Something that I've noticed examining Leo's filmography is that his female co-stars commonly are either approximately his age or older, a rare exception.
Devil in the White City is one of my favorite books (as is another Erik Larson piece, In the Garden of Beasts) and I found it entirely ravashing.
In the meantime, the fact that I've been underwhelmed by Scorsese/Leo films since they've begun to collaborate (the way you ranked them is the exact way I'd rank them, though I'd find it very generous to call The Departed great. I just thought it was good) makes me very apprehensive about this. Hugo still shows me Scorsese's got it, but Leo is a bad mojo charm and The Wolf of Wall Street kind of implied that Scorsese just went the Pacino/De Niro route of not caring anymore.
What DOES intrigue me is Billy Ray being attached to pen the script since I've found his drafts for Shattered Glass and Captain Phillips to be strong as muhfuhs.
"Revolutionary Road: A married WASP couple spends two hours shouting at each other when their feelings of inherent exceptionalism are delegitimized by their inability to do anything exceptional. And people claim to like this movie why?"
Uh...because it's really well done and reflects/dissects a reality for many, many people of its era and in the present? Sorry the characters aren't perfectly self-actualized enough for you. But to each his/her own.
Revolutionary Road: A married WASP couple spends two hours shouting at each other when their feelings of inherent exceptionalism are delegitimized by their inability to do anything exceptional. And people claim to like this movie why?
***
Troy, it's true the movie is about what you just stated. But it's also bout this as it applies to many, not just married WASPs. There's a universal here that strikes a chord with many people--this suffocating enui is widespread and relatable to many. The film may not fully realize the fine source novel, but it does a pretty damn good job.
Petition to have Gangs of New York retitled as Gangs of New York...Ugh.
I can't call The Departed a great movie, just can't.
I'd love to see him with an Oscar ASAP, even if it's Kate Winslet style, so long as move on to somebody else.
His best performance, by a landslide: Romeo + Juliet.
The Departed is a masterpiece and Shutter Island and Wolf of Wall Street are pretty darn good in their own right. With that said, it is not a surprising announcement. I'd be much more excited if lead roles in these types of films didn't go to the default candidates that get sent every single script (Leo, Fassbender, Gyllenhall, Cooper...etc.) and instead went to someone equally talented who could use an A+ leading role from an A+ director (think Viggo, Hawke, Pearce, Shannon,..etc.). WTF happened to Viggo people!
The Wolf of Wall Street is Leo at his best. I had a ball watching him as I laughed and was engaged by what he was doing. I think it's also one of Scorsese's five best films ever.
Great book, but the best stuff is the design of the World Fair - this is pure HBO epic at it's finest. They should make two connected movies, to be frank.
I think the most recent Scorsese-DiCaprio collaboration was by far the best one.
Keiran
I love you.I like this in concept, but the book has two narratives that rarely intersect. Scorsese is a good choice because he loves history and design, and if well done, you would have two very interesting narratives occurring simultaneously (serial killer and the craziness of developing the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago). I don't mind MS working a lot with Leo, but it does seem a bit narrow for both of them. Second that Scorsese should do another film with a female lead (Streep would be great to work with him, and Jessica Chastain?).
BTW, whatever happened to Michael Cunningham's adaptation of Ann Leary's The Good House for Streep and DeNiro? I would be very uncomfortable hoping that Hollywood adapted any of my writing for the screen because it's a wild bet and you never know if it will ever get done or turn out well.
I *love* this book, one of my favorites I've read in recent years. And I'll echo Jason's point- not only is 50% of the novel about the building of the fair (perhaps even more like 60%), I'd argue that the part about the World's Fair is the most *fascinating* part, even though I would have assumed going in that the serial killer storyline would be the one that kept me turning the pages.
Larson is a master at sociopolitical context and it more than worries me that one of his books is getting an adaptation with a huge star playing the character who detracts from the more unique angle that the book offers.
I too love the book and it is about the rebuilding of Chicago, after the Fire and the influence of Daniel Burnham and the World's Fair. I would have thought it more the subject matter of Ken Burns. I hope Scorsese treats Chicago with as much reverence as his memories of the New York he grew up in. No matter what actor, he is at his best in those times and those visuals. I will keep my expectations low but will hope for the art design of The Age of Innocence.
Beyond THE AVIATOR, I don't think DiCaprio does his best work in period films. I find him too modern in appearance and acting style to really fit in. I mean, he's terrible in GANGS. I don't necessarily have a problem with the two of them working together again, but I'm not sure I'm as enthused as I am supposed to be over THIS project. I feel like there are surely less obvious choices they could make.
"Chicago in the late 19th century." The moment you write this - I didn't know the story or the book before this announcement - the first thing I thought was "Oscar nominations for production design and costume design!" The wrote the same thing just a moment later.
When I read the book a couple years ago, I thought it would make great source material for Scorsese. DiCaprio didn't necessarily spring to mind in the lead role, but I'm interested to see what he does with it.
I admit, I was getting a bit tired of their pairings, but I think The Wolf of Wall Street was their best work together. Any director should switch things up regularly, though.
Loved the book, don't love Leo, who's idea of bravura acting is to scream, cry, and sweat profusely.
No no no no thanks. I agree with what many have already shared (especially you, Evan!)… I think Scorsese and DiCaprio wrecked the gem that was Infernal Affairs and made The Departed a blathery, overlong mess.
And yes, many times in reading the book, the most thrilling and fascinating parts where the sections of Daniel Burnham's planning the World's Fair — even more exciting than a serial killer on the loose.
It's crucial they cast the Burnham part. Who could do it? Simon Russell Beale? Russell Crowe that he's older? Maybe DeNiro to counteract the flatness of DiCaprio (when he's working with Scorsese, that is)?