Leonardo DiCaprio Attached To ‘Gambler’ Remake At Paramount With Martin Scorsese

EXCLUSIVE: In what shapes up as a reteam for the writer, director and star of the Oscar-winning The Departed, Leonardo DiCaprio is attached to star in The Gambler, a Paramount remake of the 1974 drama. James Caan starred in writer James Toback’s autobiographical original screenplay as an academic whose gambling addiction begins to get the best of him. William Monahan is writing the script as a potential directing vehicle for Martin Scorsese. Irwin Winkler and Bob Chartoff are attached as producers. DiCaprio recently completed the Clint Eastwood-directed J. Edgar, and he’s playing Jay Gatsby in Baz Luhrmann’s remake of The Great Gatsby for Warner Bros, based on the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic. DiCaprio then takes a villainous turn in the Quentin Tarantino-directed Django Unchained for The Weinstein Company.

The gambler was a gritty film which Caan did when he was one of the top stars in Hollywood. His gambling addiction got to the point where he convinces a student athlete to shave points so he can win a bet, and the high he experiences from risking everything takes him into even darker places. DiCaprio has so far starred for Scorsese in Shutter Island, The Departed, The Aviator and The Gangs of New York. DiCaprio is repped by Rick Yorn.