Leonardo DiCaprio becomes Devil In The White City

Leonardo DiCaprio

Leonardo DiCaprio is taking a trip through time to the late 1800s to play a serial killer in The Devil In The White City .

Based on the non-fiction novel of the same name, the story follows architect Daniel H. Burnham and Dr H. H. Holmes, the latter of whom is a serial killer merely posing as a doctor.

Holmes used the Chicago World’s Fair, built by Burnham, in 1893 to dice up his victims in the Murder Castle attraction. Considered one of America's first serial killers, it's thought that Holmes killed between 20 and 200 people.

Which makes for a particularly juicy role for DiCaprio. The actor, who was once considered the epitome of heartthrob, has consistently challenged himself with fascinating material - not least this year's Shutter Island and Inception .

DiCaprio will produce the film through his production company Appian Way with business partner Jennifer Killoran.

“I think that a guy who is that intelligent and that charismatic is nothing less than complex, and it's that complexity that [ DiCaprio ] is drawn to,” Killoran says.

We know Leo will kill it.

Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.