‘Nightmare Alley’ Remake Will Team Leonardo DiCaprio With Guillermo Del Toro
Guillermo del Torois ready to return to directing after winning an Oscar forThe Shape of Water. The filmmaker will helm a remake of the 1940s noirNightmare Alley, and he’s already attracting some serious star power.Leonardo DiCapriois in talks to star in del Toro’s movie, which will follow a con-man who teams up with a psychic, and then later a psychiatrist, to scam people. Since del Toro’s involved, I’m assuming some sort of sexy monster will show up at some point. But maybe not.Varietybroke the news about Leonardo DiCaprio in talks to join Guillermo del Toro’sNightmare Alley. The film would be adapted from the novel byWilliam Lindsay Gresham, which was previously adapted into a 1947 original movie. The novel is described as “a ferocious psychological portrait of a charismatic carnival hustler, creates an unforgettable atmosphere of duplicity, corruption, and self-destruction.” Here’s the plot of the 1947 movie adaptation:
Eventually, Stanton teams up with psychiatrist Dr. Lilith Ritter, and the two start up an act in which Stanton pretends to channel “the dead relatives of high-class socialites.” However, one of the scams backfires. Variety’s says the story follows a “con-man who hooks up with a female psychiatrist who is even more corrupt than he is. At first, they enjoy success fleecing people with their mentalist act, but then she turns the table on him, out-manipulating the manipulator.”
Nightmare Alley
While it’s always possible del Toro might want to stretch himself and make a full-blown film noir, I could easily see him applying some of his usual monstrous aesthetic to this material – especially when it comes to the carnival setting.
Since winning his Oscar, del Toro has been primarily writing and producing, but not directing.Nightmare Alleywill thankfully get him back behind the camera. DiCaprio has also been on a bit of hiatus, having not acted since 2015’sThe Revenant. He’ll be back on the big screen later this year with Quentin Tarantino’sOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood.Nightmare Alleywill likely start filming this fall, after del Toro finds the rest of his cast. TheNightmare Alleyremake script comes from del Toro and Kim Morgan. The prospect of del Toro and DiCaprio working together is exciting, and should make for an interesting pairing.
