REX/Shutterstock
Accordint to Deadline, Paramount just emerged from an intense two-studio bidding battle to win a seven-figure auction for the rights to Walter Isaacson’s book Leonardo da Vinci,which will be crafted as a star vehicle for Leonardo DiCaprio to play the painter/scientist.
He and Jennifer Davisson will produce through their Appian Waybanner. Paramount had the early lead on this one, but Universal came in aggressively Friday afternoon, and the bidding continued until it just wrapped up moments ago with ICM Partners brokering the deal for Isaacson.
This is a big get for Paramount, where Appian Way has its deal and expects to be a big part of the studio rebound. After Universal stepped up, Paramount did what it had to do to win the title. Elizabeth Raposo was a big part of making it happen, sources said.
Legend has it that Leonardo DiCaprio was so named because his pregnant mother was looking at a Leonardo da Vinci painting in a museum in Italy when the future star kicked for the first time. So it seems like destiny that DiCaprio someday might play his namesake, the artist who painted The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa.
