Busy-Work

Could actor Leonardo DiCaprio have any more projects in the pipeline?

Michael Fleming of Variety tells us about yet two more films with his name on them...

Michael Mann has delivered to studio execs what he hopes will be his next directing effort, a star vehicle for Leonardo DiCaprio.

Scripted by John Logan, the project is an untitled noir drama that takes place on the old MGM lot in the 1930s. DiCaprio is poised to play the kind of private detective studios once relied on to clean up the scandals created by its stars. He's hired to investigate whether a starlet murdered her husband.

The script was delivered by CAA to studios late last week, and sources said that a deal was expected to happen quickly. New Line made a bid of around $100 million, said sources, which falls below a projected pricetag of around $120 million.

Sources said the script is strong and the film has a period feel reminiscent of "L.A. Confidential." Studios were weighing that and DiCaprio's heat against the large budget, but other bids were expected before a deal is closed.

Aside from a budget, the film has a February start date. It will shoot mostly on soundstages, and it works in classic figures like Judy Garland and Bugsy Siegel The latter is the centerpiece of a shootout scene that unfolds in the Trocadero nightclub on Sunset Boulevard.

Mann, who'll produce under his Forward Pass banner, has been quietly developing the script with Logan since September. DiCaprio has also been in the mix for several months. The trio last worked together on "The Aviator". Mann produced that film...

...If a deal closes, DiCaprio would finally find himself before Mann's camera lens, after years of attempts. Aside from "The Aviator," they tried to team on a James Dean biopic and the fact-based drama ["The Insider"].

Let's see--Dicaprio's working on a movie about the CIA, the Stock Market, and has a reunion film with Kate Winslet...Whew! I'm tired just thinking about that schedule. The film that I'm the most excited to see, among all of these is actually, this latest addition. Mann can do great things with the material, as long as Logan's script delivers the goods...

And then there's this:

Warner Independent Pictures has scooped up domestic distribution rights to Leonardo DiCaprio's environmentally minded docu, with Warner Bros. Pictures Intl. taking overseas rights.

DiCaprio produced and narrated "11th Hour," which [premieres] at the Cannes Film Festival later this month. He penned it with Leila Conners Petersen and Nadia Conners, who together directed.

Warner Independent and Warners Intl. are eying a fall release.

Docu explores what it will take for humans to make a difference ecologically before it is too late.

A variety of leading scientists, thinkers and leaders are interviewed in the film, including Stephen Hawking, former CIA [chief] James Woolsey and former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev...

Find out more about the docu here..

To be honest, I'm not a big believer in the whole Global Warming narrative...There are just as many respected scientists who say that global warming occurs naturally--as there are who endorse the other side..What? An Inconvenient Truth wasn't enough to sway the issue...DiCaprio is entitled to believe what he wants but I hate it when stars tell me how to live--Sheesh!