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Di Caprio in line for I, Claudius role
7 Sep 2007Leonardo DiCaprio could star in a new movie version of I, Claudius after a Hollywood producer picked up the rights to the famous book by the British author.
Scott Rudin, who produced The Queen and Notes On A Scandal, is reported to have paid almost £1 million for the rights to the work, set during the Roman Empire.
I, Claudius is best remembered for the acclaimed BBC mini-series, starring Derek Jacobi as Claudius and John Hurt as Caligula.
It was first adapted into a movie by director Josef von Sternberg in 1937, featuring Charles Laughton in the title role.
The film and BBC adaptation were taken from English poet, scholar, and novelist Robert Graves's epic novels about the decline of Roman civilisation in the first century AD, I, Claudius and the sequel Claudius the God. I, Claudius was first published in 1934.
The Hollywood Reporter and Variety said that DiCaprio and US screenwriter William Monahan, who last collaborated on Martin Scorsese's Oscar-winning The Departed, could be set to work on the project, although no offers have been made.
Several Hollywood studios are said to have fought for the rights for the book about the Roman Empire, told through the eyes of Claudius.
