Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill set for new film penned by Captain Phillips screenwriter Billy Ray
Oscar-nominated Billy Ray will write 'The Ballad of Richard Jewell' for Fox
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Billy Ray, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter behind Captain Phillips and The Hunger Games, looks set to pen a film for Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill.
Ray's script for The Ballad of Richard Jewell will be adapted from a Vanity Fair article by Marie Brenner about the security guard falsely vilified as the 1996 Atlanta Olympics bomber, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
DiCaprio, who missed out once again at Sunday night's Academy Awards, will take on the role of Jewell's lawyer and friend, with Hill playing the lead.
In real-life, Jewell discovered the bomb-laden backpack, reported it and helped clear sports fans from the area before it exploded.
But just three days later, he was a terrorism suspect and the subject of an unrelenting media storm that wrongly assumed his guilt. As Jewell himself said, the papers were on him "like piranha on a bleeding cow" and he became a scapegoat.
DiCaprio and Hill will co-produce the Fox movie with Kevin Misher, Jennifer Davisson Killoran and Andy Berman.
Both actors starred in Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street, which lost out to 12 Years a Slave in this year's Best Picture category.
DiCaprio was nominated for Best Actor with Hill up for Best Supporting Actor, but both lost to Dallas Buyers Club’s Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto respectively.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments