Leonardo DiCaprio to Star in Period Gangster Film ‘The Black Hand’
Leonardo DiCaprio’s got quite a bit of experience when it comes to portraying characters on either side of the law. He was a dooly appointed federal mahshal in Shuttah Island, played the Boston mob against itself for Martin Scorsese in The Departed, and took on more dastardly roles in such films as Django Unchained and The Wolf of Wall Street. With an Oscar now under his belt, DiCaprio is on the hunt for new roles, and today brings the news that Paramount has given him one squarely in his wheelhouse.
Deadline reported that Paramount has purchased the rights to nonfiction crime novel The Black Hand for the express purpose of giving DiCaprio a starring vehicle. Stephan Talty’s book tells the true story of Joe Petrosino, an NYPD cop who waged a one-man war on the Italian Mafia in New York during the late 1800s. An immigrant in his own right, he fought to uphold the good reputation of his homeland while cleaning the streets, but his efforts earned him a lot of attention from criminal types. Spoiler alert, for something that happened over a hundred year ago: La Cosa Nostra assassinated the noble law enforcer in 1909, widowing his wife and leaving his daughter fatherless.
It’s got just about everything a good Leo DiCaprio prestige picture needs: period setting, gunplay, dramatic internal conflict, and in all likelihood, creative facial hair obscuring the actor’s boyish good looks. Maybe his next Oscar won’t take roughly a million tries.