'OJ: Made in America' director Ezra Edelman to direct 'The Ballad of Richard Jewell' starring Jonah Hill

Image from Variety

By Darian Scalamoni

            It seems that we finally have some news on the long-awaited project, The Ballad of Richard Jewell. According to The Playlist, Ezra Edelman (OJ: Made in America) is set to direct the project that has Jonah Hill set to star.

            The Ballad of Richard Jewell is a project that has been long in development and originally had Hill co-starring with his buddy Leonardo DiCaprio who he co-starred with in The Wolf of Wall Street. According to the new report, it seems that DiCaprio will remain on the movie as a Producer. The movie will be based on the Vanity Fair article, “American Nightmare: The Ballad of Richard Jewell”, the true story in which Jewell was falsely identified as the FBI’s prime suspect for the bombing of the Olympic park for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. I’ve been incredibly excited for this project since Hill and Leo signed on, and though I’m disappointed we won’t see them reunite, Hill has become an extremely talented dramatic actor and should hold the film well.

            On behalf of Edelman joining as Director, it seems to be a good fit as his documentary, OJ: Made in America was so well received that a narrative was bound to come his way soon. Even more interesting is that this director’s chair was eyed by Clint Eastwood, David O. Russell and Paul Greengrass in the past so it must mean that the project has Oscar potential. Along with Edelman and Hill, writer Billy Ray (Captain Phillips, The Hunger Games) will be penning the script.