Leonardo DiCaprio to produce Paramount’s movie on Volkswagen scandal

PanARMENIAN.Net - Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson have come on board to produce Paramount’s movie about the Volkswagen clean diesel scandal, Variety reports.

The duo are producing through their Appian Way banner. There are no acting or directing attachments yet.

Paramount has acquired movie rights to Jack Ewing’s upcoming book, which will detail the scandal in which the company placed illegal software in their clean diesel cars that could tell when a car was being tested for fuel emissions and would turn on the emissions control to cheat the test and meet EPA standards. During normal driving conditions, emission control software was shut off — resulting in as much as 40 times more pollution than allowed by law.

Volkswagen is currently facing up to $18 billion in fines from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The scandal has rocked the automotive company, with Volkswagen’s stock plunging, and called into question the future of the German automotive industry. The scandal has also damaged VW’s reputation and led to the resignation of CEO Martin Winterkorn.

DiCaprio’s producing credits include “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “Runner Runner” and “Out of the Furnace.” He will be seen next in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s drama “The Revenant.”

Publishing rights for the book proposal sold for mid-six figures to Norton. Liz Raposo at Paramount Pictures bought the movie rights.

Shari Smiley of Gotham Group represented Jack Ewing on the sale of the feature rights.