Leonardo DiCaprio to play legendary music producer/pioneer Sam Phillips

Image from THR

By Darian Scalamoni

            Ever since Leonardo DiCaprio won his Oscar for The Revenant at the beginning of this year it seems that everyone was asking, “what’s next?” for the now, Academy Award winning actor. Well after developing and producing the documentary, Before the Flood which covers climate change, it seems he’s ready to act again. According to Deadline, DiCaprio is set to play pioneer music producer, Sam Phillips in a movie based on the book, Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock ‘N’ Roll.

            This is a hell of a role for DiCaprio as he’s never done a role like this associated with music. Phillips was the music producer for the little Memphis-based Sun Studio who began the lives of many incredible artists back in the 1950s. Some of the talents he helped rise to the top were Elvis Presley, Ike Turner, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash just to name a few. DiCaprio is also set to produce the movie under his production company, Appian Way.

            DiCaprio’s company also bought the rights to a book The Devil in the White City which is in development and will potentially reunite Leo and Martin Scorsese, who are frequent collaborators, for the first time since The Wolf of Wall Street. Another movie that DiCaprio is attached to is The Ballad of Richard Jewell which is in development and is rumored to reunite him and Jonah Hill. This would also result in another homecoming as it would bring together Leo and Clint Eastwood again who collaborated together on J. Edgar.

            We’ll be sure to update you on any further projects Leo adds himself too as well as the director and addition cast added to this project.