As if we didn’t have enough upcoming Legacies with Tron and Bourne, you can add another to the list. Variety is reporting that Leonardo DiCaprio is set to star and produce Legacy of Secrecy, based on Lamar Waldron and Thom Hartmann‘s novel surrounding the JFK assassination.
UPDATE: Deadline confirms the director will be “an acclaimed [one] who has previously worked with Leonardo [and] has expressed interest in directing the film”. With Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan, and James Cameron busy, one can start guessing. Could it be Martin Scorsese or Ridley Scott? Let the games begin.
DiCaprio would play the FBI informant Jack Van Laningham, who is part of the conspiracy that “asserts that Mafia godfather Carlos Marcello confessed to Van Laningham to having ordered JFK’s assassination. As part of a dangerous and long-secret undercover operation, the FBI positioned Van Laningham to become confidant to Marcello, who ruled organized crime in Louisiana and most of Texas for decades.”
The most interesting part of the novel is the actual information it included from ” declassified FBI files from the National Archives which details the FBI’s clandestine operation with Van Laningham and Marcello’s JFK confession.” It also has “FBI and Secret Service files showing that more than a dozen of Marcello’s associates and family members were questioned or arrested by authorities in association with the JFK assassination.” It’s too bad Marcello died in 1993. The book goes even further, saying the Mafia had something to do with the Martin Luther King Jr. assassination and Watergate.
DiCaprio in a mafia-related conspiracy film about a factual event? It sounds like a perfect culmination of his work thus far. He is set to portray J. Edgar Hoover in Clint Eastwood‘s upcoming film, so it will be interesting to see if he goes right to Legacy of Secrecy. Earlier this month we also reported the potential project The Devil In The White City, where he would play a serial killer. With Warners looking at a 2013 release for Legacy of Secrecy, we will keep you updated on what he does next.
What do you think about DiCaprio getting involved with a JFK conspiracy?