Leonardo DiCaprio has announced that he will star in the upcoming Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu film.
Variety is reporting DiCaprio will join Inarritu in "The Revenant," which will be produced by New Regency and Fox.
Both DiCaprio and Inarritu have been attached to the project for a while but they could not find the time to fit it into their schedules. The film will be based on the Michael Punke novel, which tells the story of a 1820s frontiersman on a path of vengeance against those who left him for dead after a bear mauling. The film was written by Mark L. Smith and Inarritu. The film will be produced by Anonymous Content's Steve Golin, Keith Redmon and David Kanter along with Inarritu, Arnon Milchan and James Skotchdopole. New Regency will co-finance the film with RatPac and Worldview Entertainment.
The announcement is a surprise especially since DiCaprio recently revealed he would star in the upcoming film "The Ballad of Richard Jewell." The film is currently in pre-production and is set to star Jonah Hill ("21 Jump Street") and was written by Billy Ray. However, there is no director attached at the moment.
DiCaprio's role will see him return to the western after portraying villainous Calvin Candy in "Django UnChained" in 2012; he was also the Kid in Sam Raimi's "The Quick and the Dead" in 1995.
DiCaprio recently stated he would take a break from acting, but it seems the actor is still going strong. Last year, he was seen in "The Great Gatsby" and "The Wolf of Wall Street" for which he was nominated in the Best Actor and Best Picture categories.
The actor is recognized for his work on "Titanic" and "Revolutionary Road," as well as his Oscar-nominated performances in "The Aviator," "Blood Diamond" and "Whats Eating Gilbert Grape."
Meanwhile, Iarritu is currently in post-production for his upcoming film "Birdman." The movie was rumored to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, but Fox Searchlight recently announced that it is still not complete. The film tells the story of a washed-up actor who must overcome his ego and family trouble as he mounts a Broadway play in a bid to reclaim his past glory. The movie stars Naomi Watts ("The Impossible"), Michael Keaton ("Batman"), Edward Norton ("The Painted Veil"), Emma Stone ("The Amazing Spider-Man"), Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone"), and Zach Galifianakis ("The Hangover"). Fox Searchlight will release the movie in October at the start of awards season.
Inarritu is known for his work on "Babel," which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, as well as "21 Grams," "Biuitful" and "Amores Perros."
Production for "The Revenant" is slated to begin in the fall. The film will likely be relased in 2015.