I actually first reported on this production back in March 2007 after Warner Bros. had won rights to Jordan Belfort’s tell-all autobiography “The Wolf of Wall Street” over Paramount and Brad Pitt’s Plan B. Back in 2007 Terrence Winter was thought of as a “Sopranos” writer, but now he’s being reported as a “Boardwalk Empire” writer, but nevertheless it is his script that’s going into production, however, as an indie film and not a studio film for WB.
Something I did not know was that Ridley Scott had apparently become attached to the project last year, but Scott left and WB bailed as well. Now, Vulture reports, DiCaprio’s manager, Rick Yorn, has secured indie financing, and The Wolf of Wall Street could go before cameras as early as June 2012.
Based on Belfort’s autobiography, the story centers on Belfort (DiCaprio), a Long Island penny stockbroker who served 20 months in prison for refusing to cooperate in a massive 1990s securities fraud case that involved widespread corruption on Wall Street and in the corporate banking world, including mob infiltration.
DiCaprio is currently filming J. Edgar for Clint Eastwood and is also expected to star in Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby. It would seem The Wolf of Wall Street would fill the time in-between.
Scorsese is just now finishing up Hugo Cabret for Columbia Pictures and it will hit theaters on December 9, which means it sounds like Scorsese could have a whole other film in the can by the time that release date comes around. He and Eastwood are turning into regular Woody Allens.
The Wolf of Wall Street would be DiCaprio and Scorsese’s fifth film together following Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed and Shutter Island.
