Tuesday, January 27, 2009

DiCaprio set to 'Beat the Reaper'

New Regency is acquiring screen rights to "Beat the Reaper," eyed as a star vehicle for Leonardo DiCaprio.

The protagonist in the novel penned by Josh Bazell is a Manhattan emergency room doctor, whose life becomes complicated when a mobster recognizes the doc from his former life as a hitman who went into the witness protection program.

The book is just being published by Little Brown, which acquired the title in an eight-house auction in 2007. Bazell, a medical intern, was in his hospital scrubs on the night shift as publishers waged a seven-figure fight for his first novel.

DiCaprio, who is Golden Globes-nominated for "Revolutionary Road," most recently completed shooting "Shutter Island" for director Martin Scorsese at Paramount. Appian Way recently completed "Orphan" at Warner Bros., and is developing a film based on the anime classic "Akira" at WB.

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