Cinema has often dipped into the story pool of 1930s crime dramas, which present a simpler time in America’s history. For people making the movies, I mean, not for the people that actually lived through the Depression and subsequent road to war. Without cell phones, DNA analysis, fluorescent bulbs, or terrorists to worry about, movie cops get to be badasses, noir-ish shadows are everywhere, and everything is personal.
Michael Armour’s upcoming novel The Road Home looks like it will establish that same gritty tone, and Deadline reports Warner Bros. has already snatched up the rights for it, with Appian Way, the production company run by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson Killoran, set to produce. Scott Cooper, who wrote and directed 2009’s countrified Crazy Heart, will also be writing and directing this film. And though DiCaprio is only listed as a producer for now, there’s no telling how attached he’ll get as the project moves forward.
In The Road Home, main character Creek is just your average war veteran-turned-rancher in Depression Era California. He’s asked to privately look into a brutal local murder that the police have covered up, and Creek finds himself way over his head as he uncovers a small town conspiracy. Sounds like it’s got a lot of nail-biting potential.
This will be the second collaboration between DiCaprio and Cooper, who teamed up for Cooper’s upcoming crime thriller Out of the Furnace, which DiCaprio was originally supposed to star in before the role was filled by Christian Bale. But while Cooper was busy with that, DiCaprio was filming Martin Scorcese’s The Wolf of Wall Street, which will be out later this year.
