Paramount acquired the rights to Walter Isaacson's book Leonardo da Vinci, "which will be crafted as a star vehicle for Leonardo DiCaprio to play the painter/scientist," Deadline reported. DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson are producing via their Appian Way banner. The book will be published by Simon and Schuster in October.
"Legend has it that Leonardo DiCaprio was so named because his pregnant mother was looking at a Leonardo da Vinci painting in a museum in Italy when the future star kicked for the first time," Deadline noted, adding: "So it seems like destiny that DiCaprio someday might play his namesake, the artist who painted 'The Last Supper' and the 'Mona Lisa'."