Since his Oscar win this year for The Revenant, not much has been heard from Leonardo DiCaprio or from his production company Appian Way. But as of yesterday, it has been announced that DiCaprio will be starring and producing an upcoming biopic about famed rock and roll music producer Sam Phillips.
Based on the book Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock ‘n’ Roll, released late last year by Peter Guaralnick, the film will tell the story of Phillips’ rise to fame, from a poor, rural farm in 1920s Alabama, where he worked with and listened to the songs of his family’s black field workers, to his establishment of Sun Records in Nashville in the the 1950s. where he launched the careers of music artists such as Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, and many more artists.
Phillips is not only known for being a pivotal rock ‘n’ roll pioneer, but also for being an advocate for black rights and equality in the 1960s. As reported a an LA Times article, Guaralnick says of Phillips, “He conceived of this music before there was rock ‘n’ roll… He was convinced there was a type of music that could transcend divisions of black and white and appeal to everyone.”
As reported by Deadline, Mick Jagger has also signed on to serve as a producer, along with DiCaprio, but the picture has yet to choose a writer and director. The film will be released by Paramount Pictures, as DiCaprio’s production company recently signed a first-look deal with them.
But this is not the only project that DiCaprio and Appian Way will be working on in the coming years, such as the post-apocalyptic book The Sandcastle Empire by Kayla Olson, which is said to be is in the works. Appian Way is also eyeing few projects currently, such as the book Truevine by Beth Macy. Additionally, DiCaprio is still rumored to star in the long awaited adaptation of The Devil in the White City, to be directed by Martin Scorsese. It was also just announced this week that they will be developing a feature film adaptation of the 90s animated series Captain Planet.
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