- Filmmaker Martin Scorsese said to planning to make a film about legendary singer’s tumultuous private life
- DiCaprio reportedly in talks to take on lead role as Sinatra
- Project hangs on whether Sinatra’s daughter gives permission
Leonardo DiCaprio is reportedly in line to play legendary singer Frank Sinatra in a biopic directed by Martin Scorsese.
Scorsese has long had an interest in making a film about Sinatra and his famously complicated private life, and is renewing plans again, according to Variety.
It would be no surprise if DiCaprio would take the role, as he has worked with Scorsese on several occasions in recent years, most notably in last year’s Killers of the Flower Moon – which was nominated for 10 Oscars this year – as well as The Wolf of Wall Street and The Aviator.
In addition, Jennifer Lawrence has been linked with the role of Ava Gardner, who was Sinatra’s second wife. Lawrence and DiCaprio previously worked together on Don’t Look Up.
Meanwhile, major studios are said to be interested in producing it, with Apple – which financed Killers of the Flower Moon – and Sony said to be the frontrunners.
However, despite the heavyweight names involved, whether a film happens at all is down to one woman: Tina Sinatra. Tina is Frank’s daughter, and she controls her late father’s estate and has yet to give consent for a movie of his life to be made. Given the film would aim to cover the time where Sinatra had an affair with Gardner, which ended his marriage to Nancy Barbato, Tina’s mother, this is by no means a sure thing.
Scorsese, who at 81 is showing no signs of slowing down, is also aiming to bring another project to the big screen – A Life of Jesus, based on Shusaku Endo’s book. Andrew Garfield has been lined up to star in that one.
