Nightmare Alley: Leonardo DiCaprio eyeing lead role for Guillermo del Toro

Leonardo DiCaprio is looking to expand towards new genres with Guillermo del Toro’s new film, Nightmare Alley.

The wave of remakes is still going strong, and while there are some movies that shouldn’t go through that treatment, there are others that are either not widely known or simply forgettable; those stories could definitely benefit from a remake. The new addition to the list is Nightmare Alley, based on the novel of the same name by William Lindsay Gresham, published in 1946.

It was adapted to the big screen the following year as a film noir, with Tyrone Power as the lead character, Stanton Carlisle. It took awhile for it to be considered a gem of the genre, but it eventually made it, and now it’s getting a remake, by the hand of none other than Guillermo del Toro – and it looks like he has found his leading man.

According to Variety, Leonardo DiCaprio is in talks to star in Nightmare Alley. The project has  del Toro attached as director and producer, with a script written by him and Kim Morgan. It will reportedly start shooting this fall, so we should start getting more and more details soon. For now, we just have to wait for confirmation on DiCaprio’s involvement, but hey, why wouldn’t he join the fun?

Nightmare Alley follows con-man Stanton “Stan” Carlisle who, after years of being the one with the tricks, ends up being tricked… big time. The 1947 adaptation made some changes to the story, with the ending being significantly different from the one in the novel, but del Toro’s version will reportedly be more based on the book. So, in a way, more than a remake per se, we are getting another adaptation of the novel.

Nightmare Alley (1947) – Courtesy of 20th Century Fox

Although Leonardo DiCaprio is more known for his work in drama, he has some experience in the film noir world, with Martin Scorsese’s neo-noir horror thriller Shutter Island, but he can do pretty much anything. It’s unknown if del Toro will choose the film noir path for this version or a more psychological side (with a hint of his very peculiar type of horror), but whatever the case, DiCaprio and del Toro is a combination I didn’t know I needed and now, I definitely want it to happen.

We can only hope that del Toro follows through with the project, as he tends to sign up for a bunch of (incredible) movies and TV series and ends up having to leave due to scheduling conflicts. Fingers crossed this won’t be one of those cases.

Nightmare Alley doesn’t have a tentative release date yet, but with production starting later this year, keep your eyes open for more and more details on this project.

Do you want to see Leonardo DiCaprio and Guillermo del Toro work together in Nightmare Alley? Let us know in the comments.