We’ve previously seen the great Christopher Lee in the role in the 1966 Hammer horror classic RASPUTIN: THE MAD MONK, but Oscar-nominee Leonardo DiCaprio is now set for the lead in the Warner Bros. re-imagining. Jason Hall has been tasked with the screenwriting gig after recently impressing Bradley Cooper and director Steven Spielberg with his adaptation of Chris Kyle’s military biopic, AMERICAN SNIPER, and whose life later came to a tragic conclusion.
Hall has saw his pitch to studio snapped-up by Warner’s with the project expected to be simply-titled RASPUTIN and specifically with DiCaprio in mind. It could be another interesting departure for the Hollywood heartthrob, who for those unaware of the real-life character, Grigori Rasputin, was an infamous religious charlatan who notoriously survived several attempts on his life (shootings, strangulations, and stabbings) before finally succumbing in 1918. He drowned in the Neva River after having been shot in the back earlier that night.
We’ll keep you posted as the project comes together.
Source: Collider
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