Leonardo DiCaprio Re-Teaming With ‘The Revenant’ Writer For ‘Conquest’
It’s not entirelyMark L. Smith’s fault that Leonardo DiCaprio found himself chowing down on raw bison liver and risking hypothermia in freezing cold water on the set ofThe Revenant. But as the screenwriter, Smith definitely bears some responsibility. He’s the one who wrote Hugh Glass into a world that gets “colder, icier, more frozen and harder,” as his journey continues, after all.
Still,The Revenant’s famously difficult production process has paid off, at least in that five-time Oscar nomineeLeonardo DiCaprioseems to have best shot yet at actually taking home a statue. So maybe it’s not surprising DiCaprio is looking to hook up with Smith again. The two are reuniting forConquest, which has just been picked up by Paramount Pictures.
Deadlinereports Paramount beat out other interested studios to close a deal forConquest. It’s described as a “star vehicle” for DiCaprio, but details beyond that are scarce. Smith is writing the screenplay, andJohn Davis(Joy) will produce. DiCaprio’s production shingle Appian Way is not involved, as far as we know. No plot details have been revealed, and we don’t even know what genre the film will be — though given the title and the names involved, we’re gonna go ahead and guess it won’t turn out to be a lighthearted comedy.
Word ofConquestcomes as DiCaprio and the rest of theRevenantcast and crew wait to see how their Oscar hopes pan out. The film is up for 12 nominations in all including Best Picture, and DiCaprio is looking like a frontrunner in the Best Actor category. (And if theConquestnews helps remind voters of how much they enjoyed DiCaprio and Smith’s last effort together, all the better.)
Paramount released a number of DiCaprio’s big hits includingThe Wolf of Wall Street,Shutter Island, and the biggest hit of them all,Titanic. They’re also also behind the 1890s serial killer biopicThe Devil in the White City, which will re-team DiCaprio with Martin Scorsese. Billy Ray (Captain Phillips) is writing that one. DiCaprio has a number of projects to choose from right now, but hasn’t yet revealed which movie he’ll shoot next.
BesidesConquestandThe Revenant, Smith and DiCaprio have been working together onEndurance, about polar explorer Ernest Shackleton, andKing Harald, about the 11th century Viking ruler. (So maybeConquestis yet another biopic about a tough guy facing the elements?) Outside of his collaborations with DiCaprio, Smith’s scripts includeColliderfor director Edgar Wright and producer J.J. Abrams, andGhost Reconfor director Michael Bay.
