In 2015, we reported that Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese were teaming up to adapt Erik Larson’s best-selling book Devi in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America. The film has been stuck in developmental limbo for the past few years. However, things have just changed; Devil in the White City has been revived, and 20th Century Fox has come on board.
While a script is still in development, the project has officially received the green light from the studio. DiCaprio has held the rights to the book since 2010. The project has undergone various iterations, including a planned Hulu series that never materialized.
“Devil in the White City” tells the chilling true story of Dr. H.H. Holmes, a cunning con man and serial killer who used the 1893 World World Exposition in Chicago to lure his victims to their deaths.
H.H. Holmes, whose real name is Herman Webster Mudgett, is one of history’s most infamous killers. It’s estimated that he took the lives of as many as 200 people, including children. However, he only confessed to 27 murders when arrested.
This is far from the first project featuring Scorsese and DiCaprio. They have worked together on six previous films: Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed, Shutter Island, The Wolf of Wall Street, and The Audition. They most recently teamed up for the film Killers of the Flower Moon.
