Russian TV station reports Leonardo DiCaprio will play Putin in ‘political thriller’ biopic

15:05, 2 February 2016 TV Rain

Leonardo DiCaprio has tentatively agreed to play Vladimir Putin in a future motion picture, according to a new report by the Russian independent television station Dozhd. The TV channel cites two sources close to Knightsbridge Entertainment, which is said to be producing the film.

The project already has a page on iMDB, where it's described as an “in-development” Putin biography with a script in the works since February 2015.

Valery Saaryan, a top manager at Knightsbridge Entertainment, confirmed to Dozhd that the Putin project has been in development for more than a year. The script is now awaiting final approval, he told Dozhd. Saaryan refuses to offer any concrete details about the movie, saying only that the company is hoping to cast several Hollywood stars and put the project in the hands of an accomplished director. 

Saaryan calls the film a political thriller based on the life and work of Russia's current president. “From the KGB, to prime minister ... to president. The Man, the Myth! An intimate look into the life and rise of one of the world's most powerful men,” says the film's description.

According to Dozhd's other sources, DiCaprio has tentatively agreed to play the part of Putin, and filming is set to begin this spring at locations in Russia, the US, and Europe. The movie is slated for theatrical release in the spring of 2017.

Dozhd was unable to get confirmation about DiCaprio's casting in the Putin biopic from the actor's official representative. In January 2016, however, DiCaprio did tell the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag that he would “love” to play the Russian president in a film, calling him a “very, very, very interesting” man.