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Leonardo DiCaprio to produce film detailing the Volkswagen diesel emissions scandal

It will be an adaption of Jack Ewing’s upcoming book Too Big To Fall

Jack Shepherd
Tuesday 13 October 2015 04:47 EDT
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Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street
Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street

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The Volkswagen emissions scandal only made front-page news last month and already Hollywood have pounced on the opportunity to turn it into a movie.

In early October, Paramount bought the rights to New York Times journalist Jack Ewing’s upcoming book detailing the scandal. Now, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson have come on board to produce the film.

The duo will produce through their Appian Way banner and are yet to hire a director or any cast.

In September earlier this year, it was revealed that Volkswagen had cheated on diesel emission tests since 2009. Over 11 million cars are thought to be in violation of the Clean Air Act.

With DiCaprio’s track record of portraying wealthy maniacs - Wolf of Wall Street, Django Unchained, Great Gatsby - it’s not hard to imagine him taking on the role of Martin Winterkorn, ex-CEO of the car company.

Ewing's book will investigate how a "more, better, faster” ethos fuelled the scandal, according to The Hollywood Reporter. It will be entitled Too Big To Fail, and was apparently sold for a six-figure sum.

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