Go Back  DVD Talk Forum > Entertainment Discussions > Movie Talk
Reload this Page >

The Devil in the White City from EP Scorsese/DiCaprio

Community
Search
Movie Talk A Discussion area for everything movie related including films In The Theaters

The Devil in the White City from EP Scorsese/DiCaprio

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 04-10-03 | 05:27 PM
  #1  
Thread Starter
DVD Talk Gold Edition
 
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 2,597
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
From: dc
The Devil in the White City from EP Scorsese/DiCaprio

heard about this recently and thought i'd post the news. it's still early in the works but she has obtained the rights to the eric larson book and is going to have the screenwriter from K-19 adapt it. she'll direct.

http://www.kathrynbigelow.com/upcoming.html

THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY
Adaptation of the book of the same name. From amazon.com: Author Erik Larson imbues the incredible events surrounding the 1893 Chicago World's Fair with such drama that readers may find themselves checking the book's categorization to be sure that The Devil in the White City is not, in fact, a highly imaginative novel. Larson tells the stories of two men: Daniel H. Burnham, the architect responsible for the fair's construction, and H.H. Holmes, a serial killer masquerading as a charming doctor. Burnham's challenge was immense. In a short period of time, he was forced to overcome the death of his partner and numerous other obstacles to construct the famous "White City" around which the fair was built. His efforts to complete the project, and the fair's incredible success, are skillfully related along with entertaining appearances by such notables as Buffalo Bill Cody, Susan B. Anthony, and Thomas Edison. The activities of the sinister Dr. Holmes, who is believed to be responsible for scores of murders around the time of the fair, are equally remarkable. He devised and erected the World's Fair Hotel, complete with crematorium and gas chamber, near the fairgrounds and used the event as well as his own charismatic personality to lure victims. Combining the stories of an architect and a killer in one book, mostly in alternating chapters, seems like an odd choice but it works. The magical appeal and horrifying dark side of 19th-century Chicago are both revealed through Larson's skillful writing.
i'm reading this book right now and it's excellent. should be an interesting project to watch.
Old 04-10-03 | 06:06 PM
  #2  
DVD Talk Gold Edition
 
Joined: Sep 1999
Posts: 2,041
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Thanks for the heads up; nice to see her working again. BTW: if you find the H. H. Holmes character interesting you might also like Depraved by Harold Schechter, which is a non-fiction account of his murders.
Old 04-11-03 | 09:43 AM
  #3  
DVD Talk Legend
 
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 12,135
Likes: 0
Received 4 Likes on 2 Posts
From: Times Square
Boy, this sounds like the kind of material that Bigelow would really do justice to - let's hope it happens!

(I'll have to check out the book - I lived for several years in that neighborhood.)
Old 04-11-03 | 01:12 PM
  #4  
Geofferson's Avatar
Moderator
 
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 39,963
Received 155 Likes on 126 Posts
From: The Village Green
Great news! I plan on reading this soon.
Old 04-11-03 | 02:04 PM
  #5  
DVD Talk Legend
 
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 12,135
Likes: 0
Received 4 Likes on 2 Posts
From: Times Square
Just did some checking and found this info about a documentary about H.H. Holmes that is imminent:

http://www.waterfrontchicago.com/holmes.htm
Old 04-11-03 | 11:44 PM
  #6  
Thread Starter
DVD Talk Gold Edition
 
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 2,597
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
From: dc
thanks for the link. it's pretty interesting, i had never heard of him before (and i took a class of serial killers)! i'm not far enough into the book to know much about him yet but so far he's fascinating. he made a great living on bogus businesses and by ripping off labor.
Old 04-12-03 | 09:48 AM
  #7  
DVD Talk Gold Edition
 
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 2,316
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
From: Taxachusetts
This could be a very interesting movie, if done right. The book is excellent and very suspenseful, and I believe that Kathryn Bigelow would bring a good version to the screen with the right script.
Old 04-12-03 | 11:36 AM
  #8  
Senior Member
 
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 829
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
From: Atlanta
I'm about two-thirds of the way through the book right now and it's utterly fascinating. But the thought of the people behind K-19 and Point Break adapting this movie doesn't exactly fill me with confidence.
Old 04-12-03 | 02:33 PM
  #9  
DVD Talk Gold Edition
 
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 2,644
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
From: A little bit here and a little bit there.
And I liked both point break and k-19.
As well as blue steel, strange days, the weight of water, the loveless and near dark.

So I suppose kathryn bigelow has yet to dissapoint me.
Old 04-12-03 | 02:54 PM
  #10  
DVD Talk Legend
 
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 12,135
Likes: 0
Received 4 Likes on 2 Posts
From: Times Square
Originally posted by Sunday Morning
And I liked both point break and k-19.
As well as blue steel, strange days, the weight of water, the loveless and near dark.

So I suppose kathryn bigelow has yet to dissapoint me.
Old 08-10-15 | 08:45 PM
  #11  
dex14's Avatar
Moderator
 
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 47,065
Likes: 0
Received 5,339 Likes on 3,597 Posts
Devil in the White City (D: Scorsese) S: DiCaprio

Leonardo DiCaprio will star in the long-in-development “The Devil in the White City” with Martin Scorsese directing for Paramount, sources confirm.

The project, which has been in the works for more than a decade, reunites DiCaprio with Scorsese two years after “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

Paramount won an auction to buy the movie rights to Erik Larson’s book “The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair That Changed America.” The studio has previously owned the rights twice.

Billy Ray, whose credits include “Captain Phillips” and “The Hunger Games,” will write the script. Producers are DiCaprio and his Appian Way partner Jennifer Davisson along with Stacey Sher, Scorsese and Rick Yorn.

DiCaprio first joined the project in 2010.

DiCaprio will play H.H. Holmes, who murdered between 27 and 200 people, mostly single young women. Set against the backdrop of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, “The Devil in the White City” tells the intertwining stories of fair architect Daniel H. Burnham and Holmes, who used a hotel he built near the fairgrounds to lure his victims.

“The Devil in the White City” was first put in development in Hollywood by Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner through their Cruise/Wagner banner via the shingle’s deal with Par, but the option lapsed in 2004. Paramount reacquired the film rights in 2007 and set it up with producers Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher, whose shingle Double Feature Films had a first-look deal with the studio at that point.

Besides “The Wolf of Wall Street,” DiCaprio and Scorsese have made “Gangs of New York,” “The Aviator,” “The Departed” and “Shutter Island” together.

DiCaprio is repped by LBI, which also reps Scorsese. CAA, Management 36o and attorney Peter Nichols rep Ray.
http://variety.com/2015/film/news/le...ty-1201567113/
Old 08-10-15 | 09:38 PM
  #12  
Defiant1's Avatar
DVD Talk Gold Edition
 
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 2,456
Likes: 0
Received 3 Likes on 3 Posts
re: The Devil in the White City from EP Scorsese/DiCaprio

Just read the Wiki entry on H.H. Holmes and his murder castle and that was beyond creepy. Yikes.
Old 08-11-15 | 01:12 AM
  #13  
DVD Talk Gold Edition
 
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 2,926
Received 91 Likes on 69 Posts
re: The Devil in the White City from EP Scorsese/DiCaprio

Never heard of the guy, but saw who is attached, some of the stuff that happened and I want to see this movie NOW.
Old 08-11-15 | 02:28 AM
  #14  
Banned
 
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 674
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
re: The Devil in the White City from EP Scorsese/DiCaprio

This is gonna suck.
Old 08-11-15 | 06:14 AM
  #15  
Hokeyboy's Avatar
DVD Talk Legend
 
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 20,847
Received 1,034 Likes on 619 Posts
From: Fort Lauderdale, FL
re: The Devil in the White City from EP Scorsese/DiCaprio

The book was pretty meh (IMO) but I think it will make for an even better movie. From a visual perspective, the recreation of the Chicago World's Fair will be pretty damn spectacular.
Old 08-11-15 | 03:50 PM
  #16  
Shannon Nutt's Avatar
DVD Talk Legend
 
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 18,585
Received 412 Likes on 310 Posts
From: Pittsburgh, PA
re: The Devil in the White City from EP Scorsese/DiCaprio

It's interesting that DiCaprio is playing the killer...I would have thought he would play the architect. I haven't read the book, so I don't know the ages of both characters.
Old 08-11-15 | 05:46 PM
  #17  
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
 
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 4,335
Received 164 Likes on 139 Posts
re: The Devil in the White City from EP Scorsese/DiCaprio

Originally Posted by Shannon Nutt
It's interesting that DiCaprio is playing the killer...I would have thought he would play the architect. I haven't read the book, so I don't know the ages of both characters.
The killer is only early 30s, 34 I think. So Leo would work for this.

Last edited by Throwing Copper; 08-11-15 at 07:15 PM.
Old 08-11-15 | 06:29 PM
  #18  
OldBoy's Avatar
TOTY Winner 2018 and Inane Thread Master
 
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 53,886
Received 1,678 Likes on 1,384 Posts
From: "Are any of us really anywhere?"
re: The Devil in the White City from EP Scorsese/DiCaprio

Originally Posted by Throwing Copper
Spoiler:
The killer is only early 30s, 34 I think, when he died. So Leo would work for this.
spoiler alert!
Old 08-12-15 | 05:09 AM
  #19  
DVD Talk Gold Edition
 
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 2,926
Received 91 Likes on 69 Posts
re: The Devil in the White City from EP Scorsese/DiCaprio

Originally Posted by EctoCooler
This is gonna suck.
I don't think Leo and Scorsese has put out a movie together that has "suck".
Old 08-12-15 | 06:20 AM
  #20  
Ash Ketchum's Avatar
DVD Talk Legend
 
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 13,246
Received 476 Likes on 354 Posts
re: The Devil in the White City from EP Scorsese/DiCaprio

Originally Posted by jacob_b
I don't think Leo and Scorsese have put out a movie together that doesn't "suck".
Fixed.
Old 08-12-15 | 08:43 AM
  #21  
inri222's Avatar
DVD Talk Godfather
 
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 50,673
Received 186 Likes on 122 Posts
re: The Devil in the White City from EP Scorsese/DiCaprio

Originally Posted by jacob_b
I don't think Leo and Scorsese has put out a movie together that has "suck".
If it wasn't for Daniel Day-Lewis I would easily say Gangs of New York.

Originally Posted by Shannon Nutt
It's interesting that DiCaprio is playing the killer...I would have thought he would play the architect.
Haven't read the book, but maybe the killer is the juicier role for flexing acting chops.
Old 08-12-15 | 09:24 AM
  #22  
james2025a's Avatar
DVD Talk Limited Edition
 
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 5,358
Likes: 0
Received 63 Likes on 52 Posts
re: The Devil in the White City from EP Scorsese/DiCaprio

This is funny as only last week in watched a documentary on H.H. Holmes. Seriously creepy story and total nut job. He makes Hannibal Lecter seem like Jesus in comparison. The castle he built to kill and destroy is seriously screwed up. The story cold be really interesting, just not sure Di Caprio is the right choice. I think he is a fine actor, but i have yet to ever see a performance where he has blown me away. For some reason Scorsese is in love with the guy, and thats a shame as De Niro coulod sure use Scorsese to get his groove back.

Still in the hands of Marty i think thisn will be worth watching.
Old 08-12-15 | 09:37 AM
  #23  
d2cheer's Avatar
DVD Talk Legend
 
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 12,262
Received 461 Likes on 332 Posts
re: The Devil in the White City from EP Scorsese/DiCaprio

Originally Posted by EctoCooler
This is gonna suck.


I have to admit your posts do amuse me.
Old 08-12-15 | 09:47 AM
  #24  
DaveyJoe's Avatar
DVD Talk Legend
 
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 19,475
Received 318 Likes on 202 Posts
From: Maryland
re: The Devil in the White City from EP Scorsese/DiCaprio

Originally Posted by jacob_b
I don't think Leo and Scorsese has put out a movie together that has "suck".
The Aviator is the only one I'd call good, their other collaborations were just lazy and underwhelming. Leo's performances in these films feature wild overacting, and Scorsese just seems to be phoning it in. The premise of this movie sounds pretty amazing, though, so hopefully it will turn out well.
Old 08-12-15 | 10:33 AM
  #25  
inri222's Avatar
DVD Talk Godfather
 
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 50,673
Received 186 Likes on 122 Posts
re: The Devil in the White City from EP Scorsese/DiCaprio

Originally Posted by james2025a
I think he is a fine actor, but i have yet to ever see a performance where he has blown me away.


Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2026 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.