Appian Way & Paramount Eye ‘Truevine’ Novel & Leonardo DiCaprio to Star

Paramount and Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way are negotiating to acquire the screen rights to Beth Macy’s novel Truevine: Two Brothers, A Kidnapping, And A Mother’s Quest; A True Story Of The Jim Crow South. Sources say this is being developed as something DiCaprio could potentially star in while producing alongside Jennifer Davisson.

The book tells the true story of two African-American brothers who were kidnapped from a tobacco farm in the Jim Crow South town of Truevine, VA. After George and Willie Muse were taken they were displayed as circus freaks. Over the course of twenty-eight years, the boys were made into superstars. They performed for royalty at Buckingham Palace and had over a dozen sold-out shows at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Their success grew, due to the color their own skin and in the demoralizing acts they were forced to assume for the audiences entertainment. Back home, their grieving mother never gave up hope in getting her boys back her.

The book was repped by Foundry’s Richie Kern.