DiCaprio to Star in Martin Scorsese's THE WOLF OF WALL STREET

Martin Scorsese will direct THE WOLF OF WALL STREET starring Leonardo DiCraprio. The deal, which brings Scorsese and DiCaprio together for their fifth feature collaboration, was made official today.

Red Granite Pictures owns the rights to Jordan Belfort’s best-selling memoir The Wolf of Wall Street, on which the film is based. Red Granite principals Riza Aziz and Joey McFarland are producing along with Leonardo DiCaprio (Appian Way), Martin Scorsese and Emma Koskoff (Sikelia Productions) and Alexandra Milchan (EMJAG Productions). Irwin Winkler and Georgia Kacandes will executive produce.

Leonardo DiCaprio will star as Jordan Belfort – the ‘Wolf of Wall Street.’

Terence Winter (“The Sopranos,” “Boardwalk Empire”) adapted the screenplay, which chronicles Belfort’s dramatic rise and fall on Wall Street, along with his hard-partying lifestyle and tumultuous personal life, which included drug and alcohol addiction.

“Everything about this film plays to Martin Scorsese’s genius and visionary storytelling, said Riza Aziz. “At its heart, ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ is about the rise of new ‘modern’ gangsters in New York. Wall Street gangsters that redefined excess, greed and arrogance. We’re excited to see Mr. Scorsese take the reins of this visceral, tumultuous ride.”

“All of us at Appian Way are thrilled to collaborate, once again, with Martin Scorsese,” said Jennifer Killoran, partner in Appian Way. “With Martin’s unique vision and our partnership with Red Granite Pictures and EMJAG, we are excited to bring this story to film.”

Production on “The Wolf of Wall Street” is slated to begin in August in New York.

With a celebrated career now spanning six decades, Martin Scorsese is one of the most influential filmmakers in cinema history. A cinematic master, his works include such iconic films as “Goodfellas,” “Taxi Driver,” “Mean Streets,” “Raging Bull,” “Casino,” “Gangs of New York,” “The Aviator,” “Shutter Island,” and “The Departed.”