Paul Greengrass May Direct Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill in Olympic Bombing Drama

The combination of Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill proved to be a potent one in The Wolf of Wall Street, and by all accounts they got along famously. So it wasn't a surprise when they moved quickly on their next project together, and an altogether more serious one. They're set to star in an adaptation of the Vanity Fair article "American Nightmare: The Ballad of Richard Jewell", penned by Billy Ray (Shattered Glass) and centering on the real-life investigation surrounding '96 Olympics bombing. Ray recently wrote the script for Paul Greengrass' acclaimed drama, Captain Phillips, and they may be looking at a re-teaming, also.

According to Deadline, Paul Greengrass is circling the untitled drama, which would have Hill starring as Jewell, a security guard who discovered a suspicious package during the '96 Olympics in Atlanta and tried to get people out of harm's way. Soon after the tables turned and Jewell found himself the FBI's primary suspect in the case and the object of national scorn. DiCaprio would play the southern lawyer who helped guide Jewell through the nightmare.

This would be a perfect choice landing a director like Greengrass who excels with real-life dramas and documentaries. Greengrass hasn't signed on yet but if a deal comes together is there any reason to think this won't turn out great?

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Billy Ray to Pen 'The Ballad of Richard Jewell' for Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill

Billy Ray's screenwriting career got off to a dubious start, one that it took a long time for me to get past. He first wrote Color of Night, a terrible Bruce Willis "thriller" that had me snoring in my theater seat. But Ray has since gone on to pen and direct some great films such as Shattered Glass, Breach, and writing The Hunger Games. He really scored this year with his script for Best Picture nominee, Captain Phillips, and now he's moving up to work on a biopic spearheaded by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill.

Variety reports Ray will script The Ballad of Richard Jewell, about the life of the security guard who in 1996 became a hero and then a suspect in the Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta. Ray will be adapting the Vanity Fair article by Marie Brenner that serves as the basis for the story, detailing how the Jewell's personal and professional life was ruined by the false accusations. Hill is expected to play Jewell, with DiCaprio as the Southern lawyer who helps him through the media firestorm.

Still no word on a director, but given Ray's previous credits and obvious grip on dramatic biopics such as this, hopefully he'll be given some consideration.

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